NPI Costing Manager – Aerospace & Defense UAVs

EDGE; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 600,000 - 1,000,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Tax-free salaries

Family visas

Medical insurance

Job summary

EDGE is seeking a Manager – Product Development Costing to own financial tracking for NRE and NPI costs across drone programs. The role partners with Engineering, PM and FP&A to ensure proper capitalization and budget control at each stage-gate.

You will drive cost discipline, lead a team of costing analysts, and provide governance through month-end settlements and audits. This role requires deep IAS 38 knowledge and SAP CO expertise.

Qualifications

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

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end financial tracking of all NRE and NPI costs across drone development programs.
• Prepare robust cost business cases for each R&D stage-gate (concept, PDR, CDR, production release).
• Drive design-to-cost discipline with Engineering; set, track and elevate variances at each stage-gate.
• Lead month-end settlement of development orders in EBS/SAP CO and allocate NPI actuals to the correct program.
• Coordinate with FP&A to feed development costs into cash flow, month-end close and project settlements.
• Manage IAS 38 R&D cost capitalization end-to-end; maintain asset schedules and amortization profiles.
• Model cost structures for new manufacturing processes introduced at development stage (automation, composites).
• Conduct make-vs-buy financial analysis for major subsystems and components.

Skills

Cost accounting

NPI / R&D finance

SAP CO

IAS 38

Finance leadership

Education

Professional accounting qualification (CIMA/ACA)

Tools

SAP CO

Job description

EDGE is seeking a Manager – Product Development Costing to own financial tracking for NRE and NPI costs across drone programs. The role partners with Engineering, PM and FP&A to ensure proper capitalization and budget control at each stage-gate.

You will drive cost discipline, lead a team of costing analysts, and provide governance through month-end settlements and audits. This role requires deep IAS 38 knowledge and SAP CO expertise.