Senior / Manager, Standard Costing

Pacific International Lines Pte Ltd; Singapore; On-site; SGD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Pacific International Lines Pte Ltd in Singapore seeks a strategic Finance leader to own the cost basis for pricing and order intake, oversee the standard cost engine, and drive cross‑functional transformation across shared services.

The role emphasizes cost methodology, governance, and coordinating invoicing control, with focus on leading Phase 1/2 restructurings, process simplification, and collaboration with Cost Performance & Business Partnering.

Qualifications

• Tertiary Education in Accounting, Finance, Maritime, Data Science, Statistics, Business or a related discipline; professional qualification preferred.
• Minimum 10 to 12 years in standard costing, controlling, management reporting or commercial finance, including at least 3 years leading teams.
• Shipping or liner industry experience, with understanding of service, trade and equipment cost drivers.
• Demonstrated experience leading organisational change, scope segregation and handover of activities and people between functions.
• Experience as business owner of a finance-system transformation and in establishing or transitioning work into shared services.

Responsibilities

• Own the cost basis for pricing and order intake. Own the standard cost engine, calculation rules, cost assignment methodology and standard cost model across all PIL services.
• Lead the organisation transformation and reorganisation. Lead Phase 1 transfer of scope, people, processes, system access, controls, documentation and knowledge from TDP into Finance through stable operation.
• Lead the standard cost (COA) engine revamp as business owner. Define the target design, phasing and roadmap; sign off business requirements and functional specifications; accept solution design; own testing, defect adjudication, parallel-run acceptance, cutover and stabilisation.
• Deliver operational-efficiency improvement initiatives. Identify, prioritise and deliver automation, process simplification, reduced manual intervention and rework reduction. Establish baselines, target benefits and measures, track delivery and embed improvements in standard operating procedures.
• Build shared services for transactional activities. Define the transactional scope, operating procedures, controls, service levels and quality measures; lead knowledge transfer and stabilisation; retain accountability for output quality; and redeploy the core Standard Costing team towards analysis, control and decision support.
• Co-own invoice-processing outcomes. Co-own with Cost Performance & Business Partnering the integrity and timeliness of invoice processing as it affects actual cost and the standard cost basis. Lead development of detection models for late, missing, duplicated or mis-coded invoices, accrual gaps and rates deviating from the standard cost basis. Agree thresholds, ownership and escalation routes, and lead the Standard Costing team to support joint corrective actions through closure.
• Own system-output accuracy and anomaly detection. Direct routine validation of outputs entering pricing and the Liner Proforma P&L. Ensure first-line detection of calculation errors, data-feed failures and unexplained movements; drive root-cause investigation with ISD and elevate material commercial exposure.
• Endorse release and quantify commercial impact. Review and endorse rates, adjustments and model changes before release. Withhold release where the basis is unsound, quantify pricing and margin consequences including cargo quoted on a superseded basis, and communicate impacts in advance.
• Act as joint custodian of the common cost taxonomy. Jointly approve taxonomy changes with Cost Performance & Business Partnering, maintain the controlled version and permanently remediate structural misalignment between standard and actual cost structures.
• Hold the post-handover EMD interface. Agree the form, granularity, timing and change-notification protocol for empty-cost outputs received from Equipment Management. Quantify pricing consequences when EMD-owned empty-cost logic changes, without taking ownership of that logic.
• Direct cost accuracy and variance investigation. Improve standard-cost accuracy and quantify margin leakage from errors, stale rates or assignment distortion. Partner Cost Performance & Business Partnering on standard-versus-actual variance and remediation, including invoice-processing and accrual gaps.

Skills

Leadership

Costing knowledge

Finance transformation

Process improvement

Team building

Education

Accounting/Finance degree

Maritime or data analytics background

Job description

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• Own the cost basis for pricing and order intake. Own the standard cost engine, calculation rules, cost assignment methodology and standard cost model across all PIL services. Set the methodology standard and ensure consistent application across the team and shared services.
• Lead the organisation transformation and reorganisation. Lead Phase 1 transfer of scope, people, processes, system access, controls, documentation and knowledge from TDP into Finance through stable operation. Lead Phase 2 activity, role and resource mapping for empty repositioning.
• Lead the standard cost (COA) engine revamp as business owner. Define the target design, phasing and roadmap; sign off business requirements and functional specifications; accept solution design; own testing, defect adjudication, parallel-run acceptance, cutover and stabilisation.
• Deliver operational-efficiency improvement initiatives. Identify, prioritise and deliver automation, process simplification, reduced manual intervention and rework reduction. Establish baselines, target benefits and measures, track delivery and embed improvements in standard operating procedures.
• Build shared services for transactional activities. Define the transactional scope, operating procedures, controls, service levels and quality measures; lead knowledge transfer and stabilisation; retain accountability for output quality; and redeploy the core Standard Costing team towards analysis, control and decision support.
• Co-own invoice-processing outcomes. Co-own with Cost Performance & Business Partnering the integrity and timeliness of invoice processing as it affects actual cost and the standard cost basis. Lead development of detection models for late, missing, duplicated or mis-coded invoices, accrual gaps and rates deviating from the standard cost basis. Agree thresholds, ownership and escalation routes, and lead the Standard Costing team to support joint corrective actions through closure.
• Own system-output accuracy and anomaly detection. Direct routine validation of outputs entering pricing and the Liner Proforma P&L. Ensure first-line detection of calculation errors, data-feed failures and unexplained movements; drive root-cause investigation with ISD and elevate material commercial exposure.
• Endorse release and quantify commercial impact. Review and endorse rates, adjustments and model changes before release. Withhold release where the basis is unsound, quantify pricing and margin consequences including cargo quoted on a superseded basis, and communicate impacts in advance.
• Act as joint custodian of the common cost taxonomy. Jointly approve taxonomy changes with Cost Performance & Business Partnering, maintain the controlled version and permanently remediate structural misalignment between standard and actual cost structures.
• Hold the post-handover EMD interface. Agree the form, granularity, timing and change-notification protocol for empty-cost outputs received from Equipment Management. Quantify pricing consequences when EMD-owned empty-cost logic changes, without taking ownership of that logic.
• Direct cost accuracy and variance investigation. Improve standard-cost accuracy and quantify margin leakage from errors, stale rates or assignment distortion. Partner Cost Performance & Business Partnering on standard-versus-actual variance and remediation, including invoice-processing and accrual gaps.

Job Requirements

• Tertiary Education in Accounting, Finance, Maritime, Data Science, Statistics, Business or a related discipline; professional qualification preferred.
• Minimum 10 to 12 years in standard costing, controlling, management reporting or commercial finance, including at least 3 years leading teams.
• Shipping or liner industry experience, with understanding of service, trade and equipment cost drivers.
• Demonstrated experience leading organisational change, scope segregation and handover of activities and people between functions.
• Experience as business owner of a finance-system transformation and in establishing or transitioning work into shared services.