Cost Recovery Manager

Since its creation in 2014, Harbour has grown to become one of the world’s largest and most geographically diverse independent oil and gas companies.  Today, Harbour is producing between 475,000 and 485,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day with significant production in Norway, the UK, Germany, Argentina and North Africa. Harbour benefits from competitive operating costs and resilient margins, and a broad set of growth options including near-infrastructure opportunities in Norway, unconventional scalable opportunities in Argentina and conventional offshore projects in Mexico and Indonesia. With low GHG emissions intensity and a leading CO2 storage position in Europe, Harbour remains committed to producing oil and gas safely and responsibly to help meet the world’s energy needs. Harbour is headquartered in London with approximately 5,000 staff and contractors across its operations and offices. 

Ours is an inclusive workplace where individuals can bring their whole selves to their job and feel recognised for the value they add. We are committed to creating a genuinely inclusive and supportive working environment to ensure everyone has a positive experience at work.

At Harbour Energy, we aim to recruit, retain and promote our people based on their unique skills, regardless of race, gender or background. We need excellent people to help shape and develop the future of our company. Could this be you?

If so, we want to hear from you.

Purpose of Role:

• Lead and govern Harbour Energy Mexico’s end-to-end cost recovery framework across operated upstream assets. The role protects and maximizes recoverable value by ensuring that expenditure, regulatory submissions and supporting evidence comply with applicable contractual, fiscal and regulatory requirements.
• The Cost Recovery Manager combines deep technical authority with people leadership, independent judgement and senior stakeholder influence. The role is accountable for audit readiness, resolution of complex authority and partner challenges, and continuous strengthening of controls, systems and cross-functional ways of working.

Critical Responsibilities (MAE/MATTE/HSES*):

• Ensures all activities are carried out in a safe manner complying with all regulatory requirements, legislation and Harbour Energy HSES Procedures.
• Promote visible leadership, accountability and continuous improvement, including timely escalation of actual or potential HSES risks identified through cost recovery activities.

Ethics and Compliance Responsibilities:

• Ensure that all activities and behaviours are carried out in accordance with Harbour Energy’s Ethics and Compliance Policies and Procedures and to complete any compulsory compliance training as required.
• Maintain the highest standards of integrity, transparency and professional conduct in dealings with authorities, partners, suppliers and internal stakeholders.
• Protect confidential regulatory, commercial and financial information and ensure robust records management and audit trails.
• Identify and escalate potential conflicts of interest, control failures, fraud indicators or non-compliance concerns through the appropriate channels.

Areas of Accountability, Responsibility and Competence:

Cost Recovery Governance & Regulatory Compliance

• Own the cost recovery policy, control framework, procedures and annual compliance calendar, ensuring alignment with Production Sharing Contracts, Licence Contracts, contract annexes and applicable Mexican requirements.
• Approve cost recovery submissions and supporting evidence, establishing clear quality thresholds and accountability before external submission.
• Interpret complex or ambiguous requirements and determine defensible positions, obtaining specialist Legal or Tax input where material.
• Monitor regulatory developments, assess business impact and lead timely implementation of required changes.

Cost Validation, Reporting & Value Protection

• Oversee validation of CAPEX, OPEX, project, indirect and allocated costs for eligibility, accuracy, traceability and contractual compliance.
• Ensure complete and consistent linkage between contracts, purchase orders, service documentation, invoices, accounting records and regulatory reports.
• Challenge expenditure and documentation gaps early, quantify potential exposure and drive corrective action with accountable functions.
• Provide management insight on recoverability, disallowance risk, cash flow implications and trends affecting asset economics.

Audit, Authority & Partner Management

• Act as the principal contact for cost recovery audits, inspections, information requests and technical clarifications from authorities and JV partners.
• Define audit strategy, coordinate evidence and responses, negotiate technical conclusions and drive findings through to sustainable closure.
• Maintain a clear record of open observations, financial exposure, owners, deadlines and resolution status, with disciplined escalation of material issues.
• Build credible, constructive relationships while protecting the company’s contractual and economic position.

Internal Controls, Digitalization & Continuous Improvement

• Design and operate preventative and detective controls that strengthen accuracy, completeness, authorization and audit readiness.
• Lead root-cause analysis of disallowed or challenged costs and implement corrective and preventative actions.
• Standardize templates, evidence requirements, decision records and management information across assets.
• Drive automation and digital solutions that improve data quality, efficiency, transparency and document retrieval.

Leadership & Cross-functional Influence

• Lead, coach and develop the Cost Recovery team, defining objectives, performance expectations and development plans.
• Functionally lead and coordinate cost recovery between finance, operational departments, technical services and regulatory and legal departments
• Balance recurring submissions, audits and emerging priorities, ensuring continuity of critical deliverables.
• Chair cross-functional working groups and influence senior stakeholders to resolve issues that cut across organizational boundaries.
• Embed cost recoverability awareness into business planning, contracting, procurement, project execution and operational decision-making.

Decision Making Authority

• Approves routine and periodic cost recovery submissions and associated evidence packages within delegated authority.
• Determines technical positions and responses to authority or partner observations, applying judgement within contractual, legal and governance boundaries.
• Prioritizes team resources and corrective actions according to compliance risk, financial exposure and business deadlines.
• Recommends provisioning, risk treatment and escalation for potentially disallowed costs and unresolved findings.
• Escalates matters involving significant legal interpretation, strategic precedent, material exposure or reputational risk to the Finance Manager and relevant executives.
• Provide guidance and technical input to stakeholders on compliance with financial authority frameworks.

Critical Skills*, Qualifications, Experience, etc.:

Technical Skills

• Expert knowledge of upstream oil and gas cost recovery, regulatory reporting and audit requirements in Mexico.
• Strong understanding of PSC and Licence Contract cost recovery mechanisms, contractual annexes, accounting standards, cost allocation and project accounting.
• Demonstrated ability to assess cost eligibility and evidence quality across complex CAPEX and OPEX value chains.
• Advanced financial analysis, risk assessment and management reporting capability; strong proficiency in ERP systems and Excel.
• Robust knowledge of internal controls, records management and audit trail requirements.

Non-Technical Skills

• Proven people leadership, coaching and workload management experience.
• High-impact stakeholder management, negotiation and communication skills, including with regulators and senior leaders.
• Sound judgement, intellectual rigour and courage to challenge constructively and make accountable decisions.
• Ability to translate complex regulatory and financial issues into clear options, recommendations and actions.
• Highly organized, resilient and delivery-focused, with strong attention to detail and the ability to manage competing deadlines.

Professional Experience

• Typically, 10+ years of relevant experience in oil and gas finance, cost recovery, JV accounting, project accounting, audit, regulatory compliance or related roles.
• Substantial direct experience with Mexican upstream contracts, regulatory submissions and audit processes.
• Demonstrated experience leading a specialist team and influencing cross-functional stakeholders in a multinational environment.
• Experience in finance, regulatory reporting, cost recovery or compliance within the oil & gas industry.
• Experience supporting interactions with government authorities, regulatory agencies and external stakeholders.
• Experience in Production Sharing Contracts and Joint Venture environments preferred.
• Experience supporting regulatory audits, reporting reviews and compliance processes.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Engineering, Business Administration or a related discipline. Professional accounting qualification is preferred.
• Professional accounting qualification (e.g. CPA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent) preferred.

Language

• English: proficient written and spoken business communication.
• Spanish: proficient written and spoken business communication.

Harbour Principles and Values

• Strong alignment with Harbour Energy’s core values, behaviours, and commitment to operational excellence and integrity.

Inclusive recruitment is a vital part of our diversity, equity and inclusion strategy. Whatever your background, if you feel you need an adjustment during our selection process to suit your needs, please let us know, and we will be happy to help.

For further information or support on any of these points, please reach out to us at careers@harbourenergy.com