Sr. Cost Analyst

Cost Accounting / FP&A – Manufacturing Finance & Profitability

Our client, a Multi-Billion-Dollar Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Company is seeking an experienced Cost Accounting / Manufacturing Finance professional to support cost analysis, product profitability, and operational financial performance for a multi-billion-dollar CPG organization.

This highly visible role will partner closely with Finance, Accounting, Operations, Supply Chain, and Manufacturing leadership to analyze production costs, improve gross margins, evaluate plant performance, and provide actionable financial insights that drive operational efficiency and business profitability. This is a Contract-to-Hire position and will be 3 days/week on-site in Oak Brook, IL.

Key Responsibilities:

• Manufacturing Cost Accounting: Analyze manufacturing costs, including direct materials, labor, overhead, and production expenses, to support accurate product costing and financial reporting.
• Product Costing & Standard Costs: Develop, maintain, and evaluate standard costs, product cost structures, and cost allocations across manufacturing operations.
• Cost Variance Analysis: Investigate material, labor, overhead, purchase price, and production variances to identify cost drivers, operational inefficiencies, and opportunities for improvement.
• Inventory Analysis & Controls: Evaluate inventory valuations, manufacturing inventory movements, reserves, and cost adjustments to support accurate financial reporting and working capital management.
• Gross Margin & Profitability: Analyze product-level gross margins, cost of goods sold (COGS), and manufacturing profitability to identify opportunities for cost reduction and margin improvement.
• Plant Performance & Operational Finance: Partner with plant leadership and Operations to evaluate manufacturing KPIs, production efficiencies, capacity utilization, scrap, waste, and overall plant financial performance.
• Budgeting, Forecasting & FP&A: Develop manufacturing budgets, cost forecasts, financial models, and variance reporting to support operational planning and strategic decision-making.
• Financial Reporting & Business Insights: Build financial dashboards, operational scorecards, and management reporting to translate complex manufacturing data into actionable recommendations.

Ideal Candidate:

• Strong background in Cost Accounting, Manufacturing Finance, Plant Accounting, Operations Finance, or FP&A.
• Experience within CPG, food & beverage, consumer products, manufacturing, or other high-volume production environments.
• Demonstrated expertise in standard costing, cost variance analysis, inventory accounting, COGS, and gross margin analysis.
• Experience supporting plant operations, manufacturing performance reporting, budgeting, and forecasting.
• Advanced Excel and financial modeling skills; experience with SAP, Oracle, Power BI, or similar ERP and reporting tools is a plus.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing cost structures, inventory flows, and operational financial metrics.
• Ability to partner cross-functionally with Operations, Supply Chain, Plant Management, and Finance leadership to drive business improvements.

This is an excellent opportunity for a manufacturing-focused finance professional who enjoys working at the intersection of Cost Accounting, FP&A, Operations, and Business Strategy within a large, complex organization.