Cost Performance Lead

Job Description

Job title: Finance Manager – Cost Performance

Location: Glascoed, South Wales; Radway Green, Crewe; or Washington, Tyne & Wear

Salary: Up to £58,500 depending on skills and experience

What you’ll be doing:

• Analysing data from the line of business and wider functions through the IBP process, annual budgeting, and regular monthly reporting and forecasting, reviewing and challenging insights to drive informed decision-making
• Leading the cost performance team to deliver consistent, insightful reporting and forecasting, overseeing budget holder reviews, labour rate calculation, and challenging inputs to shape accurate labour and non-labour requirements
• Driving modernisation to enhance standardisation, efficiency and effectiveness, collaborating with the FP&A team and Maritime & Land Defence Solutions to share best practice and support continuous process improvement across the business
• Summarising cost performance reporting information & present to the Finance Director, Programme Directors and business stakeholders
• Collaborating with business partners and functional leads to drive cost and business performance
• Providing guidance to the business on the relationship between their financial performance and the rates and help them make changes in the cost base that will lead to competitive rates
• Supporting the business stakeholders to aid their understanding of financial information

Your skills and experiences:

Essential:

• Fully qualified accountant (ACCA, CIMA, or ACA)

• Proven experience supporting or working within a production environment from a financial standpoint

• Strong communication skills with the ability to engage and influence senior stakeholders outside of Finance

• Effective leadership capabilities to inspire, motivate, and guide direct reports, while fostering collaboration with wider finance colleagues

Desirable:

• Advanced Excel proficiency and strong data manipulation capabilities

• Demonstrated ability to identify, implement, and embed process improvements

• Experience in financial planning, budgeting, and forecasting processes

Benefits:

As well as a competitive pension scheme, BAE Systems also offers employee share plans, an extensive range of flexible discounted health, wellbeing and lifestyle benefits, including a green car scheme, private health plans and shopping discounts – you may also be eligible for an annual incentive.

The Cost Performance team:

This is a high-impact leadership role within the Cost Performance Team, part of the FP&A function in Munitions Finance. You’ll oversee cost base management across multiple UK sites (Washington, Radway Green, and Glascoed) supporting diverse functions including Engineering, Project Management, and Purchasing. Partnering with key stakeholders and working on exciting new products for the MOD, you’ll help shape financial insights in a fast-paced, evolving environment. With a strong team and broad exposure across Defence Solutions, it’s an opportunity to lead transformation and make a real difference.

Why BAE Systems?

This is a place where you’ll be able to make a real difference. You’ll be part of an inclusive culture that values diversity of thought, rewards integrity, and merit, and where you’ll be empowered to fulfil your potential. We welcome people from all backgrounds and want to make sure that our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. If you have a disability or health condition (for example dyslexia, autism, an anxiety disorder etc.) that may affect your performance in certain assessment types, please speak to your recruiter about potential reasonable adjustments.

Please be aware that many roles at BAE Systems are subject to both security and export control restrictions. These restrictions mean that factors such as your nationality, any nationalities you may have previously held, and your place of birth can restrict the roles you are eligible to perform within the organisation. All applicants must as a minimum achieve Baseline Personnel Security Standard. Many roles also require higher levels of National Security Vetting where applicants must typically have 5 to 10 years of continuous residency in the UK depending on the vetting level required for the role, to allow for meaningful security vetting checks.

Closing Date: 12th August 2025

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

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