Cost Accountant - hybrid remote

Are you an accounting professional who enjoys digging into the numbers to uncover opportunities for improved efficiency and profitability? Our client, a growing manufacturer based in South Jersey, is looking for a Cost Accountant to join its finance team and play a key role in driving operational and financial performance. This position offers significant cross-functional exposure, partnering with operations, engineering, procurement, supply chain, and leadership to ensure accurate product costing, strengthen inventory controls, and support strategic business decisions. What You'll Do Drive Manufacturing Cost Analysis Maintain and update standard costs for raw materials, labor, and overhead within the ERP system. Analyze manufacturing variances, including material usage, labor, overhead, production, and purchase price fluctuations. Provide meaningful reporting and recommendations to management regarding cost trends and operational performance. Assist with month-end and year-end close activities related to inventory, cost of goods sold, and manufacturing accounts. Ensure accurate valuation of raw materials, work-in-process, and finished goods inventory. Monitor inventory reserves and support compliance with GAAP and internal control requirements. Partner with Operations Collaborate with plant leadership, engineering, procurement, and supply chain teams to improve costing accuracy and identify cost-saving opportunities. Participate in new product costing, bill of materials development, and manufacturing process improvements. Help design and enhance production workflows while partnering with IT to optimize ERP functionality. Inventory & Process Improvement Support physical inventory counts and cycle count programs, including reconciliations and reporting. Develop reporting that measures margins, production costs, and plant performance. Recommend improvements that strengthen inventory controls, reporting accuracy, and operational efficiency. Budgeting & Strategic Analysis Assist with annual budgeting and forecasting for manufacturing expenses, labor, overhead, and inventory. Provide financial analysis for freight, warehousing, tariffs, and other operational cost areas. Serve as a trusted business partner by translating financial data into actionable insights. What We're Looking For Bachelor's degree in Accounting 2+ years of cost accounting experience within a manufacturing or industrial environment Strong understanding of standard costing, inventory accounting, work-in-process (WIP), bills of materials (BOMs), overhead allocations, production reporting, cycle counts and physical inventories. Advanced Excel skills and experience working with ERP systems Solid understanding of GAAP and internal controls Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving abilities Excellent communication skills with the ability to collaborate across departments #J-18808-Ljbffr firstPRO, Inc