Senior Cost Engineer/Cost Analyst at Astron Energy (Pty) Ltd.

• The Project Cost Analyst / Cost Engineer serves as the subject matter expert in project cost engineering, providing comprehensive cost engineering services to Refinery Capital Projects portfolio.
• Portfolio includes small, minor to major projects at various project life-cycle stages. Cost Engineering support involves reviewing, guiding and assisting project managers in managing of project cost budgets, forecasts, reporting, and control to ensure projects stay within approved project budget and business plans.
• The role also focuses on performance measurement, governance reporting, coordination of G&A (General & Administration) and Operational & Capital business planning.
• LPS Stewardship: Effectively manage health and safety risks by actively participating in the LPS program. This includes proactively identifying opportunities for safety improvements and implementing necessary changes within the project control department and refinery wide. Furthermore, individual must be dedicated to completing all mandated compliance training in alignment with Astron Energy’s organizational standards.
• Cost Reporting: Collect, gather, and analyse cost data from different sources to create complete detailed cost reports for small, minor and major capital projects. Ensure all cost data entered into the reporting system is accurate and complete. Provide regular project cost updates including TIC cost curves for project teams, project sponsors and management for review. Lastly, they keep records of all cost reports and related communication.
• Project Cost Forecasting: Develop and update comprehensive project cost forecasts, with inputs from project managers, financial teams, and stakeholders to gather necessary information and ensure forecast accuracy. Analyse project data and make visible trends and issues, impacting project budget. Monitor and track the total installed cost (TIC) against the baseline budget and estimates to ensure financial targets are met.
• Cost Control: Provide Support to project teams on all cost control queries relating to project portfolio, including but not limited to budget transfer, contingency drawdowns, raising purchase orders, purchase order amendments, foreign payments, etc.
• Change Management: Collaborate regularly with project managers to ensure that all changes and modifications made to the project in comparison to the baseline budget are recorded on the Project Trend Register, accurately reflecting project changes.
• Invoice Tracking and Accruals: Ensure timely processing and approval of vendor invoices, prepare and record accruals for expenses incurred but not yet invoiced, and reconcile invoices and accruals with the company's financial records for accuracy. Work closely with the finance and procurement teams to support smooth operations and maintain organized documentation of all related transactions.
• Performance Measurement: Monitor project performance through established measurement frameworks. Gather, analyse, and interpret performance data to identify trends and forecast future project costs. Share these insights early in the project lifecycle to enable project managers to implement risk mitigation strategies proactively
• G&A (General & Administration) Co-ordination:  Annually, coordinate with the finance team to finalize the General & Administrative (G&A) calculation. Conduct a study to determine the amount of time refinery staff dedicate to projects by gathering feedback from team leads. Apply a percentage of time spent on projects to the labour burden to allocate costs appropriately. Use this rate across all capital expenditures to account for the salaries of permanent staff.
• Business Planning Process: Collaborate with the Refinery Capital Planning and Finance teams to develop accurate inputs for annual Capex and Opex business plans. Review and analyse business plan outputs, providing constructive feedback to project teams and departmental leaders to enable effective monitoring, control, and continuous improvement.
• Governance Reporting: Prepare presentation slides for Governance meetings depicting status of Capital Expenditure for capital projects.  Develop a Capex forecast versus business plan report for capital projects, and monitor the expenditure status of small, minor, and major projects. Identify and highlight any projects that are behind on their spend targets.
• Opex Budget Monitoring and Reporting: Coordinate with TSD team leaders to develop the Opex Business Plan. Continuously monitor and evaluate TSD Opex monthly, identifying and flagging any deviations from the plan for prompt corrective action.
• Become Cost Engineering Expert for Refinery Capital Projects: Stay informed and up to date with the latest trends and AACEI (Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering International) standards and best practices in cost engineering. Serve as an instrumental team member, providing specialist cost engineering advice and guidance to Refinery Capital Projects Teams.
• Strive for Continuous Improvement: Continuously improve project controls department procedures, tools, and templates used in cost engineering to enhance accuracy, efficiency, and consistency across all projects.
• Provide Innovative Solutions: Continually investigate advanced computer models, artificial intelligence and digital tools to enhance cost engineering support for Refinery capital projects. Provide innovative and modern tracking tools for cost engineering to complete projects within budgets
• Provide Training and Skills Transfer: Provide training to project teams on cost engineering methodologies, tools, and templates. Offer guidance and mentorship to junior staff to enhance their skills and facilitate knowledge transfer.

Core Elements of Job

Key Performance Indicators

Financial Perspective

• Monthly project cost reports
• Project tracking to achieve CPI > 1
• Achieve 90-110% forecast accuracy

Customer Perspective

• Providing effective dashboards and management reports to enhance effective decision making by project managers and Refinery Leadership

Business Excellence

• Continuous improvement of project control procedures, tools and templates to simplify and improve end-user experience.
• Successful rollout of new tools or templates

People Management

• Project Control awareness and training for Refinery capital project teams.

Relationships / Contacts / Communication

Who (internal & external) and Why (purpose of communication) and how often?

Internal

• Capital Projects Project managers and engineering teams- continuous inputs for project expenditure updates
• Technical Services Department Leads, Refinery Leadership and capital planner- monthly reports to provide updates of projects costs to make informed business decisions
• Finance, procurement, contracting teams – liaise with teams to provide key project inputs and cost information
• Project Control team – peer to peer group discussions and knowledge transfer

External

• EPCM, EC’s, external contractors and suppliers- for tracking and reporting project expenditure

Minimum Professional Qualification and Certification required:

• Graduate of any of the following: B Tech or BSc Quantity Surveying, B Tech, B.Eng. or BSc Engineering, B Tech or B. Com Accounting or any other finance- or business-related tertiary qualifications Required.
• Certified Cost Professional (CCP) with the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering International (AACEI) preferred.

Work Experience:

• Minimum 5 - 10 years’ experience in large-scale project environment with project controls and financial controls exposure required.

Knowledge; skills and competencies:

• Understanding of cost engineering principals (AACEI)
• SAP and Ariba Software proficiency
• Power BI will be an advantage
• Microsoft Office suite (experienced to intermediate / advanced level)
• Build relationships engage collaboratively with internal and 3rd party stakeholders
• Analytical Skills and anticipate / forecast pinch points
• Effective report writing and presentation skills
• Capital Portfolio Reporting

Application deadline:

• 30 August 2025