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Senior Cost Accountant

Global Manufacturing - Airport Solutions

The Senior Cost Accountant is responsible for the accurate capture, analysis, and reporting of all manufacturing costs across the business. The business provides manufactured products to the aviation and travel industry. The accounting is conducted primarily on an Over Time (Percentage of Completion) method, with parts and services billed on a Completed Contracts method. Knowledge of these accounting methods is important as well as understanding Accounting Standard Codification 606 – Revenue Recognition, Incoterms, and general manufacturing methodologies like production orders, bills of materials, cycle counting, physical inventories, etc.

Working closely with production, supply chain, and commercial teams, this role provides the financial insight needed to understand product profitability, control the cost base, and support management decision-making. The Cost Accountant maintains the integrity of the Company’s costing processes, drives variance analysis, and plays a key role in the budgeting and forecasting cycle. 

Product Costing

• Support the development of Project Budgets and estimates.
• Lead, along with Business Unit President, the Over Time accounting project management meetings, focused on the three important legs of POC: 1) Contracts and contract change orders, 2) actual costs to projects (labor, material and overheads), and 3) supporting operational development and management of each projects ETC (estimate to complete).
• Ensure bills of materials (BOMs) and routings are accurately reflected in the ERP system and aligned with standard costs.
• Support new product introduction (NPI) by providing detailed cost estimates and profitability analysis.

Variance Analysis & Reporting

• Produce and evaluate manufacturing variances on a weekly and monthly basis, including purchase price variance (PPV), material usage variance, labour efficiency variance, and overhead absorption variance.
• Investigate and clearly explain the root causes of significant variances, working with operations and procurement teams to drive corrective actions.
• Prepare and present the monthly manufacturing cost report to the Financial Controller and plant management.
• Track and report on consumables consumption, scrap, yield losses, and warranty/rework costs, identifying trends and improvement opportunities.

Inventory Accounting & Control

• Maintain accurate inventory valuations across raw materials, work-in-progress (WIP), and finished goods.
• Perform and oversee periodic and annual stock counts; reconcile physical inventory to ERP system records.
• Investigate and resolve inventory discrepancies; ensure proper write-off procedures are followed.
• Monitor and report on slow-moving, obsolete, and excess inventory (SLOB), making provisioning recommendations in line with group policy.

Budgeting & Forecasting

• Coordinate and prepare the annual budget for cost of goods sold (COGS), manufacturing overheads, and plant operating expenditure.
• Prepare monthly cost forecasts and rolling estimates, providing clear bridging analysis between budget, forecast, and actuals.
• Support the Financial Controller with the preparation of the monthly management accounts and board reporting packs.

Cost Improvement & Business Partnering

• Partner with operations, engineering, and procurement to identify and quantify cost reduction and efficiency improvement opportunities.
• Support supply chain decisions and operational restructuring reviews with relevant cost data and modelling.
• Assist in the development/enhancement of KPIs and operational metrics that drive cost-conscious behaviors across the plant.
• Provide ad hoc financial analysis and decision support to plant management as required.

Compliance & Systems

• Ensure all cost accounting activities are carried out in accordance with company accounting policies, US GAAP, IFRS/local GAAP, and internal control requirements.
• Support internal and external audit processes by providing accurate cost data and documentation.
• Drive data quality and process improvement within the ERP system (e.g., Microsoft Business Central) to enhance costing accuracy and reporting efficiency.
• Maintain up-to-date documentation of costing methodologies, processes, and controls.

Essential Qualifications & Experience

• Part-qualified or fully qualified accountant (CIMA, ACCA, ACA or equivalent); part-qualified candidates with relevant experience will be considered.
• Minimum 3–5 years of experience in a cost accounting or management accounting role within a manufacturing, FMCG, or industrial environment.
• Proven experience with standard costing, variance analysis, and inventory accounting.
• Strong working knowledge of ERP systems; MS Dynamics Business Central is a plus and Microsoft Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUP, financial modeling).
• Solid understanding of manufacturing processes, bills of materials, and production reporting.

Helpful Skills

• Experience with lean manufacturing, continuous improvement (CI), or Six Sigma cost reduction programs.
• Exposure to a multinational group reporting environment.
• Familiarity with BI and reporting tools (Power BI, Tableau, or equivalent).

Competencies & Skills

• High level of numerical accuracy and analytical rigor — detail-oriented with a strong work ethic.
• Ability to communicate financial information clearly to non-finance operational stakeholders.
• Proactive and inquisitive mindset — looks beyond the numbers to understand operational drivers.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage competing deadlines in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
• Team player with the confidence to challenge processes and propose improvements.

Key Performance Indicators

• Timeliness and accuracy of the monthly cost report and management accounts support.
• Quality and depth of variance analysis commentary provided to plant management.
• Accuracy of ERP cost master data.
• Inventory accuracy rate (physical vs. system) following stock counts.
• SLOB provision adequacy and completeness of write-off recommendations.
• Delivery of budget and forecast submissions within agreed group deadlines.
• Identification and quantification of cost saving initiatives supported by finance.

Accounting Professi