Cost Engineer – SME

BAE Systems Strategic Aerospace Services WLL | Full time

The Cost Engineer – SME serves as the group’s leading authority oncost estimation, cost control, and project financial performance across alldefense manufacturing subsidiaries and JVs. The role ensures that project and production costs are accurately planned, monitored, and optimized in alignment with corporate strategies, defense contract requirements, and lifecycle costobjectives.

This position establishes group-wide cost engineering frameworks,estimation standards, and control methodologies to improve costtransparency, budget discipline, and profitability across defense programs and factories.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic & Group-Level Oversight:

• Develop and enforce standardizedcost engineering policies, procedures, and tools across all subsidiaries and JVs.
• Support corporate and subsidiaryleadership in budget planning, cost analysis, and cost optimizationstrategies.
• Ensure all factories adhere to consistentcost tracking and reporting methodologies aligned with defense program management standards.
• Act as the corporate advisor on cost control, financial forecasting, and cost-performance measurement.
• Lead the development of should-costand life-cycle cost models for new defense products and programs.
• Prepare independent cost estimates (ICEs) and bid cost analyses to support strategic decision-making and contract negotiations.
• Validate and standardize costbreakdown structures (CBS) and work breakdown structures (WBS) across programs.
• Analyze and benchmark labor,material, and overhead rates across factories to identify efficiencyopportunities.

Cost Control & Performance Monitoring:

• Oversee cost tracking andvariance analysis at project and factory levels.
• Support subsidiaries in implementing earned value management (EVM) and othercost-performance control systems.
• Develop and manage costdashboards for executive reporting on budget status, forecasts, and deviations.
• Provide expert review and validation of cost-to-complete and cost-at-completion projections.
• Work closely with engineering,production, procurement, and finance teams to ensure cost accuracyacross design, manufacturing, and delivery phases.
• Coordinate with programmanagers and bid teams to ensure realistic cost baselines fordefense proposals.
• Support the digital transformation of cost management by defining system requirements and integration standards within ERP, EVM, or PLM environments.
• Lead cost reduction and value engineering initiatives across subsidiaries and JVs.
• Develop and deliver training programs for cost engineers and project controllers across the group.
• Establish a knowledge-sharingplatform for best practices in cost modeling, estimation, and reporting.
• Identify cost risks and opportunities to improve overall financial performance and competitiveness.

Qualifications and

Experience:

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Finance, Economics, or Cost Engineering.
• Master’s degree or MBA preferred.
• Professional certification suchas AACEI (CCP, CEP), ICEAA (PCEA/CPCEA), or PMP with costfocus is highly desirable.

Experience:

• Minimum 10–15 years of experience in cost engineering, estimation, or project controls,ideally within defense and/or aerospace industries.
• Demonstrated experience in multi-sitecost management and defense contract cost reporting.
• Proven expertise with EVMsystems, ERP tools (SAP, Oracle, IFS), and cost analysis software.
• Strong background in bidcosting, life-cycle costing (LCC), and cost-benefit analysis fordefense programs.

Skills and

Competencies:

• Deep understanding of costestimation, control, and forecasting methodologies.
• Strong analytical andquantitative skills, with advanced proficiency in Excel, Power BI, andcost modeling tools.
• Knowledge of defense contracting, cost-plus/fixed-price models, and government auditrequirements (FAR/DFARS or equivalents).
• Excellent financial acumen combined with strong technical understanding of engineering and production processes.
• Ability to communicate complexcost data clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strategic mindset with attention to detail and accuracy.
• Strong leadership, training, andcross-functional collaboration skills.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

• Accuracy of cost forecasts,estimates, and variance analyses.
• Improvement in project costpredictability and budget adherence.
• Reduction in unit cost andcost overruns across programs.
• Timely and accurate delivery of group-levelcost reports and dashboards.
• Implementation of standardizedcost engineering practices and tools across subsidiaries.