Project Cost Accounting Support Manager

About the Role: The Manager - Product Development Costing owns the financial tracking, governance and reporting of Non-Recurring Engineering (NRE) and New Product Introduction (NPI) costs across the entity's business including its drone development Programs, including tactical, MALE and large HALE UAV platforms. The role partners closely with Engineering, Program Management and FP&A to ensure development spend is accurately captured, capitalized in line with IAS 38, and controlled against approved budgets at each stage-gate. Responsibilities: - Own end-to-end financial tracking of all NRE and NPI costs across drone development Programs, including large UAV and HALE platforms. - Prepare robust cost business cases for each research & development stage-gate. - Drive design-to-cost discipline with Engineering; set, agree and track cost targets at each stage-gate and escalate variances promptly. - Lead month-end settlement of development and prototype production orders in EBS/SAP CO; ensure NPI actuals are correctly allocated to the right Program and cost object. - Coordinate with FP&A to ensure development costs feed accurately into entity-level cash flow, month-end close and project settlement processes. - Manage IAS 38 R&D cost capitalization end-to-end; maintain development cost asset schedules, capitalization triggers and amortization profiles. - Model cost structures for new manufacturing processes introduced at the development stage. - Conduct make-vs-buy financial analysis for major sub-systems and components to support sourcing decisions. - Develop cost learning-curve models to support large UAV scale-up economics and inform production ramp planning. - Lead, mentor and develop a team of costing analysts. - Act as the primary finance business partner to Engineering leadership. Basic Qualifications: - 8-12 years of cost accounting experience, with a strong track record in NPI / R&D finance. - Qualified accountant (CIMA / ACA or equivalent); strong working knowledge of IAS 38 is essential. - Hands-on SAP CO experience; familiarity with development order and WBS settlement. - Engineering or technical degree background strongly advantageous.