Senior Cost Controller

JOB DESCRIPTION

Senior Manager: Capital Allocation and Enterprise Tech Cost Controller

Location: Mumbai| Function: Finance

Reports to: Head – Transformation, Assurance and Compliance

Purpose: Reporting to Head – Transformation, Assurance and Compliance, the role will be responsible for financial oversight and assurance of all capex and enterprise technology investments (Infrastructure and Applications). The role will drive robust capital allocation discipline, administer the greenlighting process, and ensure clear financial monitoring between Capex and Opex in technology spend. The role will also support decision-making through financial modelling, business case validation, ROI analysis, and post-investment performance reviews.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee evaluation and financial scrutiny of Capex proposals across the organization.
• Review and assess all proposed technology investments to ensure alignment with strategic priorities, budget availability, and defined investment criteria.
• Ensure alignment of proposals with strategic priorities and return thresholds. Partner with Business FP&A, Technology, and Commercial teams to validate financial assumptions.
• Track approval status, conditions, and funding releases against sanctioned proposals.
• Challenge assumptions underlying project cost estimates, implementation timelines, benefits realization, and savings projections.
• Administer the end-to-end greenlighting process for all Content investments. Ensure completeness of business cases including OI, ROI analysis, risk assessment
• Facilitate governance forums and maintain decision logs and approval documentation.
• Ensure timely escalation of deviations to senior leadership and governance committees.
• Review business cases, assumptions, project estimates, funding requests, and expected benefits before escalation for approval.
• Review and govern all enterprise technology proposals, ensuring proper classification between Capex and Opex.
• Address ambiguities in infrastructure, SaaS, platform, and application spend structures.
• Manage capitalization decisions as per accounting standards and internal depreciation/amortization policies.
• Review impairment indicators and ensure timely financial adjustments where required
• Provide insights on cost optimization opportunities across infrastructure and application landscape.
• Support annual budgeting and Mid-range planning for all capex and technology investments.
• Prepare high-quality financial models and investment evaluation packs. Standardise modelling approaches and assumptions to improve comparability across investment proposals.
• Work closely with project sponsors to refine business cases and ensure high-quality submissions.

Other responsibilities:

• Ensuring efficient operation of the team, adoption of best practices and driving automation.
• Establish and improve SOPs, policy documentation and checklists.

Critical Competencies

• Budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis expertise.
• Strong knowledge of accounting standards related to capitalization, depreciation, and amortization.
• Strong Excel / financial modelling and management reporting skills
• Familiarity with financial controls, internal audit, SOX / governance frameworks
• Ability to collaborate cross-functionally (Finance, Tech, Procurement, Business Teams).
• High level of integrity, decision-making capability, and risk awareness.

Technical Competencies

• Solid understanding of capex and cost management
• Strong Excel and MIS capabilities
• Hands-on SAP experience (FI/CO & MM preferred)
• Understanding of accounting processes
• Strong financial modelling capability

Behavioural Competencies

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Analytical mindset and structured problem-solving
• High attention to detail and accuracy
• Stakeholder coordination and service orientation
• Ability to work collaboratively across teams

Education : Chartered Accountant

Experience : 9 to 12 years

Why join us

Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited (SPNI) (formerly known as Culver Max Entertainment Private Limited) is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation, Japan. A leading media and entertainment conglomerate, SPNI comprises 29 Premium Channels in both SD and HD formats, including leading Hindi General Entertainment Television Channels - Sony Entertainment Television; Sony SAB and Sony PAL; Marathi General Entertainment Channel - Sony Marathi; Bangla General Entertainment Channel - Sony AATH; Hindi Movie Channels - Sony MAX, Sony MAX 1, Sony MAX 2 and Sony WAH; renowned destination for sports fans - Sony Sports Network comprising Sony Sports Ten 1, Sony Sports Ten 2, Sony Sports Ten 3, Sony Sports Ten 4, Sony Sports Ten 5; Kids Entertainment Channel - Sony YAY!; English Movie Channel - Sony PIX; Factual Entertainment Channel - Sony BBC Earth; Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television (FAST) channel in the US and Canada – Sony KAL; Digital entertainment OTT platform - Sony LIV and the independent production venture for original content and IPs for TV and digital media - Studio NEXT. This Network reaches out to over 700 million viewers in India and is available in over 150 countries.

Recognized as an employer of choice within and outside the media industry, SPNI is a recipient of several awards, including India's Best Companies to Work For 2021 by the Great Place to Work® Institute, India, Exemplars of Inclusion in AVTAR & Seramount's Most Inclusive Companies Index 2024 and listed as one of the 100 Best Companies for Women in India for eight consecutive years by AVTAR & Seramount. In recognition of the company's unique workplace culture and exceptional people practices SPNI won the ET Future Skills 2024 for Best Learning Program Supporting Change Transformation Business Strategy, and the TISS LeapVault CLO Awards 2024 for Best Employee Engagement Program and Best Games Based Learning Program.

SPNI is in its 31st year of operations in India. Besides having overseas subsidiaries, it has a subsidiary MSM-Worldwide Factual Media Private Limited, and an affiliate, Bangla Entertainment Private Limited in India.

For more information, log onto www.sonypicturesnetworks.com