Fares A. Mirza
Cost Management Director
Riyadh
Summary
Strategic and results-oriented Director of Cost Management with 13+ years of progressive experience driving financial control, cost optimization, and commercial governance across multibillion-SAR real estate and infrastructure programs. Proven in leading high-performing teams, aligning cost strategies & goals, and implementing systems and reporting frameworks that enable informed executive decision-making.
Overview
15
15
years of professional experience
6
6
years of post-secondary education
2
2
Languages
Work History
Cost Management Director
KAFD
06.2024 - Current
- Lead enterprise-wide cost strategy across 350+ contracts, supporting capital projects exceeding SAR 15 billion.
- Spearhead transformation of payment and accrual processes, reducing average processing time and enhancing report integrity.
- Advise on cost commercial insights; deliver strategic inputs into CEO-level dashboards and Finance.
- Oversee a team of 10+ professionals, fostering a high-performance culture aligned with Asset Delivery and Company objectives.
- Ensure conformance to requirements of contractual requirements and the company procedures and standards
- Responsible to coordinate Bonds and Guarantees for the Departments.
- Responsible for closure of commercial audit items.
Cost Management Senior Manager
KAFD
08.2022 - Current
- Responsible to handle projects payment for more 270+ contracts (including contractors, consultants, and Designers)
- Leading Cost Control team 7+ employees/consultants
- Manage Monthly Cost and Accruals Reporting for 15+ Billion SAR (Project Management)
- Translated business priorities into implementable actions.
- Ensure conformance to requirements of contractual requirements and the company procedures and standards
- Lead assessment to elevate payment processing aiming to reduce average processing time and increase consistency and review quality.
- Provides and review monthly commercial reports feeds into CEO weekly dashboard and monthly reports.
- Evaluate Final Account assessments and closure
- Handle review of Legacy contracts commercial matters.
- Responsible to coordinate Bonds and Guarantees for the Departments.
- Responsible for closure of commercial audit items.
- Monitoring and managing Department IT tasks.
- Handle ad-hoc requests from upper management, PIF , General Court of Audit, etc.
- Executed appropriate staffing and budgetary plans to align with business forecasts.
Cost Management Manager
KAFD
06.2021 - 08.2022
- Handled major re-structure effort to KAFD Cost Report aimed to streamline input and tailor report toward new Department and upper management requirements.
- Created new accrual reports process follow automated approach using systematic data
- Initiated new WBS coding structure designed according to the company new strategy
- Initiated new system mandate initiative targeting overall company contracts data and cost data reconsolidation within the system
- Enhanced multipliable controls and procedures
- Created new Cost report procedure
- Created new Accruals procedure
- In collaboration work with team, successfully managed to close more than 180 open items related to Internal audit.
Business Administrator
Aramco
02.2020 - 05.2021
- Contracts administration
- Lead audit task
- Business plan preparation
- Control project budget
- Supervise project change orders
- Assure all administrative documentation are accurate and reported on timely manner
- Ensure Conformance to requirements of the company policies and procedures
- Manage and budget operating expenses
- Monitoring Project management support services
- Monitoring and managing HR and IT tasks
- Translated business priorities into implementable actions.
- Prepare monthly contract status reports
- Manage and review of weekly highlights
- Monitor Project Management KPI’s and targets
- Streamlined workflows
Cost Engineer
Aramco
01.2016 - 01.2020
- Monitor, analyze & report project cost
- Prepare monthly project update reports
- Forecast cashflow
- Verify and process invoices
- Process and review project change orders
- Member of internal auditing team
- Member of operation excellence (OE) team
- Member of OE benchmarking team
- Innovation & Idea development Champion
Contract Representative
Aramco
01.2015 - 12.2015
- Procure contracts, amendments and change orders
- Supervise contract review, the bidding process, valuation and negotiations
- Provide professional advice and support to the contract proponent
- Conduct Job explanation meetings
- Chair the bid review team
- Lead bid negotiation team
Estimating Engineer
Aramco
01.2014 - 12.2014
- Leveraged estimating tools and quotes from vendors to develop cost estimates and lead times for proposals.
- Review project & change orders estimates
- Benchmark estimate with repository previous estimates
- Ensure Conformance to requirements of the company estimating procedures and standards
- Initiate infrastructure/civil projects benchmark database
Financial Analyst (COOP)
NCB Bank
06.2011 - 01.2012
- Initiate Service requests database
- Conduct Contracts reconciliation
- Project analysis, budget reporting
- Manage accrual accounts
- Assets capitalization
Budget Planner
Al Mirza Paint Center. LTD Company
01.2011 - 04.2011
- Audit and plan expenses and receivables
- Forecast budgets
- Identified issues, analyzed information and provided solutions to problems.
Scheduler Assistant (Summer Trainee)
AL Jazira Bank
01.2010 - 03.2010
- Review projects tasks and timelines
- Gained extensive knowledge in data entry, analysis and reporting.
- Review schedule completion and project interfaces
Education
Bachelor’s degree - Finance
King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals
01.2007 - 01.2013
Skills
- Leadership
Analytical
Adaptability in work environments
Problem solving
Planning
Negotiation
Communication
MS Office
SAP System
Unifier
Courses & Certifications
- Certification
2017-04 Project Management Professionals Certificate (PMP) by PMI
2013-04 Certified Cost Technician (CCT) by AACE
- Courses
2023-10 Negotiation skills in Business by EuroMoney
2022-11 Leading with business acumen by PwC
2022-08 Effective budgeting and cost control by Meirc
2016-04 Effective Time Management
2016-04 Project Management Fundamental
2016-04 Project Planning & Scheduling Basics
2016-04 Procurement Ethics Awareness
2014-04 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Timeline
Cost Management Director
KAFD
06.2024 - Current
Cost Management Senior Manager
KAFD
08.2022 - Current
Cost Management Manager
KAFD
06.2021 - 08.2022
Business Administrator
Aramco
02.2020 - 05.2021
Cost Engineer
Aramco
01.2016 - 01.2020
Contract Representative
Aramco
01.2015 - 12.2015
Estimating Engineer
Aramco
01.2014 - 12.2014
Financial Analyst (COOP)
NCB Bank
06.2011 - 01.2012
Budget Planner
Al Mirza Paint Center. LTD Company
01.2011 - 04.2011
Scheduler Assistant (Summer Trainee)
AL Jazira Bank
01.2010 - 03.2010
Bachelor’s degree - Finance
King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals
01.2007 - 01.2013
Similar Profiles
LEEN ALGHAMDILEEN ALGHAMDI
Property Management Analyst | Building Manager at KAFDProperty Management Analyst | Building Manager at KAFD
Majed AlmejmajMajed Almejmaj
Fire Prevention and Rescue Director at KAFDFire Prevention and Rescue Director at KAFD
Tala Fawaz BogisTala Fawaz Bogis
Organizational Excellence trainee at KAFDOrganizational Excellence trainee at KAFD
Shahad AltamimiShahad Altamimi
Restaurant Manager in Charge at Naif Alrajihi InvestmentRestaurant Manager in Charge at Naif Alrajihi Investment
Renad AldosariRenad Aldosari
Accountant at Veolia water technologyAccountant at Veolia water technology