Cost Accountant

We are working with an established manufacturing business that is looking to strengthen its finance team with the appointment of a Senior Management Accountant / Cost Accountant.

This is a broad and commercially focused position, offering the opportunity to work closely with the Financial Controller and play a key role in supporting the wider business.

The successful candidate will bring strong technical accounting skills alongside a genuine interest in understanding how the operation works, challenging assumptions and using financial information to improve business performance.

While product costing and NPD will be an important part of the role, this is not simply a traditional costing position. You'll have exposure across operational finance, commercial decision-making, manufacturing performance and process improvement, with the opportunity to take on increasing responsibility over time.

The opportunity

Working closely with the Financial Controller and operational leadership team, you'll help ensure the business has accurate, meaningful financial information to support better decisions.

You'll be involved in areas including:

• Product costing and margin analysis
• New Product Development (NPD)
• Manufacturing performance and variance analysis
• Operational and commercial business partnering
• Cost control and supplier price movements
• Budgeting and forecasting
• Financial reporting and performance reviews
• Process improvement and financial controls

You’ll be encouraged to challenge where appropriate, investigate the reasons behind financial movements and work with stakeholders to identify practical solutions.

Key responsibilities

Commercial & Operational Finance

• Partner with Operations, Procurement, NPD and Commercial teams to understand the financial drivers of the business.
• Provide clear analysis and insight around costs, margins and operational performance.
• Review financial and operational variances, identifying trends, risks and opportunities for improvement.
• Support budgeting, forecasting and ongoing financial planning.
• Challenge assumptions and provide constructive financial challenge to non-finance stakeholders.
• Contribute to monthly performance reviews, providing meaningful commentary rather than simply reporting the numbers.

Product Costing & NPD

• Take ownership of product costing, ensuring costs accurately reflect current materials, labour and production requirements.
• Support the finance input into new product development, from initial costing through to launch and post-launch review.
• Assess the financial impact of recipe, packaging, supplier and production changes.
• Work with Procurement to understand and validate supplier cost movements and savings initiatives.
• Support pricing decisions, commercial proposals and tenders with robust financial analysis.
• Maintain accurate Bills of Materials, routings and other underlying costing information.

Finance & Process Improvement

• Support the Financial Controller with the preparation and review of management information.
• Analyse material, labour and purchase price variances and identify the underlying drivers.
• Assist with the annual Costs of Production process, challenging assumptions and ensuring the information is robust.
• Strengthen costing processes, controls and reporting across the business.
• Identify opportunities to improve the quality, efficiency and usefulness of financial information.
• Contribute to the implementation and development of new NPD and recipe management systems, including testing, data validation and post-implementation review.

What we’re looking for

We're looking for an accountant who is commercially curious, confident and keen to make an impact.

You may currently be a Management Accountant, Cost Accountant, Manufacturing Accountant, Finance Business Partner or similar and be looking for a broader role with greater exposure to the operation.

You’ll ideally have:

• ACA, ACCA or CIMA qualification.
• Experience working within a manufacturing, FMCG, consumer products or other operational environment.
• Strong understanding of product costing, standard costing and/or variance analysis.
• Experience working with operational or commercial stakeholders.
• Strong analytical and Excel skills.
• The confidence to question information, challenge assumptions and communicate financial insight effectively.
• A hands‑on and proactive approach, with the ability to work independently while supporting the wider finance function.

Why consider the role?

This is an opportunity to join a business where finance is closely connected to the operation and where your input will have a tangible impact.

You’ll work closely with the Financial Controller, gain broad exposure across the business and have the opportunity to develop your responsibilities as the organisation continues to grow.

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