NPI Costing Lead for Drone Programs

Al Tariq

Abu Dhabi

On-site

AED 350,000 - 550,000

Full time

2 days ago

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Benefits offered by this job

Tax-free salaries

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Medical insurance for you and dependem

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Job summary

EDGE in Abu Dhabi is seeking a Manager – Product Development Costing to own financial tracking of NRE and NPI across drone development programs, partnering with Engineering and FP&A to ensure capitalization under IAS 38 and control against budgets.

You will lead a team of costing analysts, develop cost models for new manufacturing processes, perform make-vs-buy analyses, and provide finance business partnering for leadership reviews. A strong background in R&D finance and SAP CO is essential.

Qualifications

8–12 years of cost accounting experience in NPI / R&D finance.
Qualified accountant (CIMA / ACA or equivalent); strong working knowledge of IAS 38 is essential.
Deep understanding of stage-gate product development and design-to-cost principles
Hands-on SAP CO experience; familiarity with development order and WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) settlement.
Engineering or technical degree background strongly advantageous.
Demonstrated experience developing cost architectures for complex, large-scale engineered systems (aerospace, defense, or comparable high-technology manufacturing).

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 (concept, PDR, CDR, production release), working closely with Engineering and Program Management.
Drive design-to-cost discipline with Engineering; set, agree and track cost targets at each stage-gate and accelerate 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, including automation and composite/additive manufacturing investments.
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; build technical costing capability across the team as the function transitions from a largely vacant/legacy structure.
Act as the primary finance business partner to Engineering leadership on all development cost matters, presenting findings to Program reviews and stage-gate boards.
Support internal and external audit requirements relating to R&D capitalization and government/customer cost audits where applicable.