Senior Specialist, Operations Cost Control

Oil Authority; Calgary; Hybrid; CAD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid vacation

Health & dental benefits

Substantial mental health coverage

Life insurance

Disability benefits

Employee family assistance

Virtual healthcare coverage

Job summary

Cenovus Energy Inc. in Calgary is seeking a Senior Specialist, Operations Cost Control to serve as a strategic adviser on conventional operating costs, leading enterprise budgeting, forecasting, and cost optimization initiatives.

You will translate complex financial and operational data into actionable insights for senior leaders, influence resource allocation, and champion continuous improvement across finance, operations, and supply chain.

Qualifications

• 16+ years of progressive experience in financial planning, cost control, operations, or related discipline.
• Experience partnering with senior leadership to influence decisions and drive value.
• Strong analytical, financial modelling, problem-solving and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic business planning, annual budgets, LRPs, and multi-year cost strategies.
• Develop cost drivers, indicators, forecasting methodologies and planning assumptions.
• Provide enterprise-level trend analysis, scenario planning, and risk assessments.
• Govern monthly operating expenditure forecasting across Conventional Operations.
• Drive continuous improvement in planning processes, reporting standards, and governance.

Skills

Advanced analytics

Financial modelling

Problem-solving

Communication skills

Education

Post-secondary education in Finance, Business, Engineering

Job description

About this opportunity:

The Senior Specialist, Operations Cost Control serves as a strategic advisor and subject matter expert for Conventional Operating Costs, providing enterprise-level leadership in financial planning, forecasting, performance analytics, and operational cost optimization. The role is accountable for developing long-term cost strategies, translating complex financial and operational data into actionable insights, and influencing business decisions that drive sustainable value creation. Working closely with senior leaders across Conventional Operations and corporate functions, this position champions continuous improvement, cost governance, benchmarking, and best practices to enhance organizational effectiveness, strengthen cost competitiveness, and optimize business performance.

What you’ll do:

Strategic Business Planning & Long-Range Forecasting

• Lead the development and integration of annual budgets, Long-Range Plans (LRP), and multi-year operating cost strategies across Conventional Operations.
• Establish cost drivers, performance indicators, forecasting methodologies, and planning assumptions that support business objectives and strategic decision-making.
• Provide enterprise-level trend analysis, scenario planning, and risk assessment to inform leadership decisions and resource allocation.
• Translate complex operational and financial data into executive-level insights, recommendations, and actionable business strategies.
• Influence resource allocation and investment decisions through robust economic, operational, and financial analysis.

Operational Performance & Forecast Leadership

• Provide oversight and governance of monthly operating expenditure forecasting across Conventional business units, ensuring accuracy, consistency, and alignment with business priorities.
• Lead financial and operational performance reviews, providing clear outlooks, insights, and recommendations to senior and executive leadership.
• Identify emerging risks, opportunities, and performance trends through predictive analytics, forecasting, and performance monitoring.
• Drive accountability for forecast accuracy and continuously improve planning processes, reporting standards, and performance management practices.

Enterprise Review & Governance

• Lead and govern the annual Long-Term Asset (LTA) review process, ensuring alignment with corporate objectives, asset strategies, and operational priorities.
• Facilitate cross-functional collaboration among Operations, Finance, Supply Chain, and senior leadership to develop integrated strategic business plans.
• Establish and maintain consistent, transparent, and rigorous cost management frameworks, assumptions, governance practices, and decision-making processes.

Operational Excellence & Decision Support

• Lead the development and enhancement of analytical tools, reporting frameworks, and performance management systems that improve organizational effectiveness and decision quality.
• Establish best practices and governance standards for operating expenditure reviews, cost management, and business performance assessments.
• Drive modernization, automation, and continuous improvement initiatives that enhance data quality, forecasting capabilities, reporting efficiency, and leadership visibility.

Strategic Value Creation & Continuous Improvement

• Lead enterprise-wide benchmarking and performance analysis to identify cost competitiveness opportunities, best practices, and areas for operational improvement.
• Identify, evaluate, and champion strategic cost optimization opportunities that deliver sustainable business value.
• Partner across Cenovus business units to implement transformational improvements, standardize processes, and leverage enterprise-wide best practices.
• Provide constructive challenge and strategic leadership during operational performance reviews, ensuring root causes, risks, and opportunities are understood and addressed.
• Influence organizational priorities by translating operational and financial insights into strategic recommendations that improve business performance and shareholder value.
• Mentor and guide business partners on cost management, performance analytics, forecasting, and continuous improvement methodologies.

Who you are:

Our ideal candidate will have the following minimum requirements:

• Legally authorized to work in Canada.
• Minimum 16 years of progressive experience in financial planning, cost control, operations, business analysis, or a related discipline.
• Post‑secondary education in Finance, Business, Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Demonstrated experience in operating cost management, budgeting, forecasting, performance analytics, and strategic business planning.
• Strong experience partnering with senior leadership and cross‑functional teams to influence business decisions and drive value creation.
• Advanced analytical, financial modelling, problem‑solving, and communication skills.

We acknowledge the value of transferrable skills and may consider equivalent combinations of experience and education should you not meet a specific requirement.

Note: The application deadline for this position is 11:59 PM MT October 14, 2026.

#LI-CA1

Who we are:

Ranked as one of Canada’s Best Employers in 2025, Cenovus is an integrated energy company headquartered in Calgary. We’re committed to maximizing value by developing our assets in a safe, responsible and cost‑efficient manner. We operate in Canada, the United States and the Asia Pacific region. Our operations include oil sands projects in northern Alberta, thermal and conventional crude oil and natural gas projects across Western Canada, crude oil production offshore Newfoundland and Labrador and natural gas and liquids production offshore China and Indonesia. Cenovus’s downstream operations include upgrading, refining and marketing operations in Canada and the United States.

Find Cenovus on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

The Cenovus experience

Total rewards

We’re committed to being an employer of choice through competitive compensation and our comprehensive total rewards package, including:

• Paid vacation (including a flex day program for eligible staff)
• Health & dental benefits
• Substantial mental health coverage
• Life insurance
• Disability benefits
• Employee family assistance
• Virtual healthcare coverage

Our development philosophy

We foster a culture of continuous learning and development to support employees as they build meaningful careers. We offer a variety of employee development initiatives, including:

• Internal course offerings
• Education assistance for additional development
• Opportunities to work on special projects
• Leadership development programs for emerging and established leaders

We actively promote internal job movement, recognizing the value of gaining new perspectives, building connections across teams, and applying expertise in new ways. As a fully integrated energy company, we believe that sharing knowledge across our business and operations creates stronger outcomes—for employees and for the company as a whole.

Our culture

• Our purpose: We energize the world to make people’s lives better.
• Our values:
  • Protect what matters
  • Do it right
  • Make it better
  • Do it together

• Cenovus Cares: We believe in the power of purpose-driven work. Our Employee Giving and Volunteering Program, Cenovus Cares, connects our people to our purpose, inspiring action and elevating impact year-round.
  • Support causes you care about with volunteer opportunities in and outside of work.
  • Earn donation grants while volunteering (up to $1,000 per event).
  • Receive donation matching up to $10,000 annually.

• Staff resource groups: We have various staff resource groups to help ensure our people feel a sense of belonging and can grow and do their best work. These voluntary groups are employee-led and all groups are open to all staff in all locations.

Equal opportunity employer

We believe a workplace where everyone has merit-based opportunities to grow, achieve career aspirations and feel a sense of belonging benefits our people, our company and the regions where we live and work. We embrace and encourage different perspectives and approaches, which help us make better business decisions. We believe that through this approach, we can solve challenges, seize opportunities and unlock innovative solutions.

To achieve an unbiased and respectful workplace, individuals are evaluated based on qualifications, merit and abilities, and we encourage applications from all qualified candidates. We also acknowledge the value of transferrable skills and may consider equivalent combinations of experience and education should you not meet a specific requirement.

For more information about working at Cenovus, visit cenovus.com.

The requirements of this posting may be modified to support business needs. Title and compensation administration will be based on the skills and capabilities of the successful incumbent.