Overview

We’re looking for a Cost Accounting Manager / Assistant Controller who can do more than close the books and run reports. Someone to be the numbers behind the machines. This role sits right at the intersection of Finance, Manufacturing, Operations, and Leadership — giving you the opportunity to understand how products are made, why they cost what they cost, and how we can make the business better.

You’ll own the world of manufacturing cost accounting while partnering with Operations and Finance to turn data into decisions.

 

Responsibilities

Own the Cost Accounting World

• Manage and oversee the cost accounting function, including standard costs, BOMs, labor, overhead, absorption, product costing, production volume reporting, and work order variances.
• Establish, maintain, and monitor manufacturing cost standards.
• Lead standard cost rolls and ensure product costs accurately reflect current manufacturing realities.
• Analyze material, labor, overhead, and production variances — and, more importantly, figure out why they happened.
• Partner with Operations to identify opportunities to improve costs, processes, productivity, and profitability.
• Review manufacturing data and master data for accuracy and identify issues before they become bigger problems.

Help Drive the Business

• Turn financial data into information leadership can actually use.
• Provide meaningful analysis around manufacturing costs, margins, inventory, production, and operational performance.
• Work closely with Plant Operations, Supply Chain, Engineering, Sales, and Finance to understand what is happening behind the numbers.
• Help leadership understand the financial impact of operational decisions.
• Identify trends, opportunities, and red flags — and don't be afraid to raise your hand when something doesn't look right.
• Develop and improve reporting that gives the business better visibility into performance.

Be Part of the Close

• Support and help drive an accurate and timely month-end close.
• Review inventory and manufacturing accounts and investigate unusual activity.
• Assist with reconciliations, journal entries, accruals, and financial reporting.
• Support annual audits and provide documentation and analysis as needed.
• Help strengthen internal controls and accounting processes.

In other words, you won't just be counting the beans — you'll help decide what we do with them.

Qualifications

What Makes You a Great Fit?

We're looking for someone who is:

• Curious. You don't just accept a number because the system says it's right. You want to know why.
• Analytical. You enjoy digging into the details and connecting the dots.
• A problem solver. When something doesn't make sense, you want to figure it out.
• Business-minded. You understand that accounting isn't just about historical numbers — it's about helping the business make better decisions.
• Collaborative. You can talk accounting with Finance and manufacturing with Operations without making everyone's eyes glaze over.
• Detail-oriented. You know that small errors can create very big problems.
• Confident. You're comfortable asking questions, challenging assumptions, and speaking up when something doesn't look right.
• Hands-on. You're willing to get into the weeds when necessary, but you also know how to step back and see the big picture.

What You’ll Bring

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.
• Strong understanding of cost accounting and manufacturing accounting.
• Experience with standard costing, BOMs, inventory valuation, labor, overhead, and variance analysis.
• Experience with month-end close and financial reporting.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Advanced Excel skills and comfort working with large amounts of data.
• ERP experience; SAP experience is a plus.
• Ability to communicate financial information clearly to both accounting and non-accounting audiences.
• Leadership experience or the desire and ability to grow into greater leadership responsibility.

 

The most significant duties have been included in this description.  Other duties may be assigned as necessary.  The organization reserves the right to modify this job description as needed to accurately reflect the duties assigned and modify duties as needed without editing the job description in its entirety.

 

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