IT Cost Management Specialist

Canadian Pacific Railway; Calgary; On-site; CAD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible benefits

Pension plan

Employee share plan

Performance incentive

Fitness subsidy

Job summary

CPKC, North America’s first transnational railroad, is seeking a Senior Financial Analyst to partner with Information Services, Finance, Accounting and Procurement in Calgary. The role focuses on OpEx planning, forecasting and reporting to enable smarter decisions for technology investments.

You will develop executive dashboards, provide variance analysis, and support budget processes across IS and adjacent functions.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in financial analysis, budgeting, forecasting, accounting, cost management, and expense planning.
• Strong knowledge of financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, month-end close processes, accrual and prepaid accounting, expense management, cost control practices.
• Advanced proficiency with SAP, SAP Ariba, Microsoft Excel (including financial modeling, PivotTables, formulas, and data analysis), Power BI, and other corporate financial planning, forecasting, and reporting tools.

Responsibilities

• Prepare and manage monthly OpEx forecasts and budgets.
• Provide variance explanations and insights on spending trends, risks, and opportunities.
• Develop and maintain executive dashboards and management reporting packages.
• Monitor technology expenditures and cost allocations to ensure effective financial management.

Skills

Financial analysis

Budgeting

Forecasting

Variance analysis

Cost management

Executive dashboards

KPI reporting

Stakeholder management

Process improvement

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Finance/Accounting/Business

Tools

SAP

SAP Ariba

Microsoft Excel

Power BI

PivotTables

Job description

Join CPKC, North America’s first transnational railroad connecting U.S., Canada, and Mexico, where your career drives progress and safety is paramount. We connect communities, fuel economic growth, and provide meaningful work in a culture that values diversity, accountability, and pride. With opportunities for training, development, and advancement, you’re not just building a career—you’re part of something bigger. Together, we move goods, connect people, and create lasting change. Your future starts here.

PURPOSE OF THE POSITION:

The purpose of this position is to be a key financial partner to the Information Services organization, enabling smarter decisions through meaningful analysis, forecasting, and reporting. By collaborating with leaders across IS, Finance, Accounting, and Procurement, the role ensures the effective management of technology-related investments and operating expenses. This position drives transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement to support

POSITION ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Support the Information Services (IS) organization in the planning, forecasting, reporting, and management of Operating Expenses (OpEx) by preparing and managing monthly forecasts, supporting annual budget development, maintaining ongoing forecast updates, reviewing expenditures against budget, and providing variance analysis, recommendations, and insights on spending trends, risks, opportunities, and anticipated changes
• Act as a key liaison between IS leaders, Finance, Accounting, Procurement, Supplier Management, and budget owners to ensure accurate financial management, cost allocation, reporting, governance, and alignment on portfolio spending priorities
• Manage month-end financial processes including accruals, journal entries, adjustments, prepaids, amortizations, expense forecasting, and the investigation and resolution of financial inquiries, chargeback questions, and expense discrepancies
• Provide financial analysis, variance explanations, dashboard reporting, and budget support by developing and maintaining executive dashboards, management reporting packages, and performance insights that enable informed decision-making across the IS portfolio
• Monitor and analyze technology-related expenditures by tracking project costs and assessing the impacts of IFRs, recoveries, cloud amortization, software agreements, and other technology investments to ensure effective financial management and transparency
• Identify opportunities to improve financial processes, reporting accuracy, cost controls, and operational efficiency by maintaining strong financial controls, ensuring compliance with accounting policies and corporate governance requirements, and developing process documentation, training materials, and financial procedures that enhance forecasting accuracy, reporting efficiency, and cost transparency

POSITION REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Economics, or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and experience
• 5+ years of experience in financial analysis, budgeting, forecasting, accounting, cost management, and expense planning within a complex business environment, including the preparation of monthly OpEx forecasts, budget submissions, variance analysis reports, and month-end financial reporting packages
• Strong knowledge of financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, month-end close processes, accrual and prepaid accounting, expense management, cost control practices, and the development of accrual requests, journal entries, prepaid schedules, amortization schedules, cost recovery analyses, and forecast change documentation
• Advanced proficiency with SAP, SAP Ariba, Microsoft Excel (including financial modeling, PivotTables, formulas, and data analysis), Power BI, and other corporate financial planning, forecasting, and reporting tools
• Experience developing executive dashboards, KPI reporting, management reporting packages, budget owner review packages, financial risk and opportunity assessments, and actionable financial insights that support business decision-making
• Proven ability to analyze complex financial data and effectively communicate trends, variances, risks, opportunities, and recommendations to business leaders and stakeholders, with strong collaboration, stakeholder management, and process improvement skills, including the development of financial process documentation and training materials across Finance, Accounting, Procurement, Information Services (IS), and operational teams using tools such as Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and SharePoint

WHAT CPKC HAS TO OFFER:

• Flexible and competitive benefits package
• Competitive company pension and/or retirement plans
• Employee share purchase plan
• Performance incentive plan
• Annual fitness subsidy

PRE-EMPLOYMENT REQUIREMENTS:

• Criminal history check
• Education verification
• Professional references

BECOMING A RAILROADER:

As an employee with a North American presence, the possibility does exist that the location of your position may be changed based on organizational requirements.

Management Conductor Program

Becoming a qualified conductor or locomotive engineer is the single best way for a management employee to learn the business at CPKC. You may be required to obtain a certification or to maintain your current certification/qualification as a conductor or locomotive engineer.

CULTURE OF INCLUSION:

For our U.S. applicants, CPKC is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, inclusive of protected veterans and individuals with disabilities. For Canadian applicants CPKC is an employment equity employer committed to the principles of employment equity and inclusion. We encourage all qualified candidates to apply including: women, Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), members of the LGBTQ+ community and people with disabilities. Accommodations for the job application process can be provided, as appropriate, upon request. All applicant information will be managed in accordance with the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).