Senior Cost Analyst

Senior Cost Analyst

Nearly half of a billion-dollar U.S. grocery category runs through this manufacturer's brand — and this is the dedicated manufacturing cost accounting seat sitting right at the heart of their next growth chapter.

The Overview

This is a long-standing, family-owned dairy business — passed down across multiple generations — and the clear leader in two billion-dollar grocery categories. Its flagship products are the #1 brands in the U.S. within their segments. With roughly $500M in yearly revenue and a handful of operating manufacturing sites across Texas, Ohio, and Arizona, the company is also mid-construction on a large new Midwest facility that will nearly double its total capacity. That expansion is driving genuine, structural demand on the finance team.

The Role

As the Senior Cost Analyst, you're the dedicated manufacturing cost accounting seat inside a centralized ops finance group. Your ongoing responsibilities span maintaining standard costs, analyzing purchase price and manufacturing variances, costing and reconciling inventory, booking month-end close entries, and working shoulder-to-shoulder with plant operations to run down inventory losses and push through fixes. This isn't a keep-score job — the expectation is that you spot an issue, build a theory, take a swing at solving it, and come back with a recommendation instead of a question.

In Our Words

The manufacturing model here is repeatable, wash-and-repeat process production — two main product lines, steady inputs, and a reliable cadence of monthly deliverables. That underlying simplicity is genuine. Where it gets truly challenging is the people side: the plant crews include folks who've done this for two, three, even four-plus decades, and they've rightfully earned a healthy skepticism toward newcomers who show up with bright ideas but no rapport. Around here, improvement lands face-to-face and through earned trust — not over email. The hiring manager put it plainly: you've got to prove the new approach beats the old one before anybody buys in. People who lean into that will discover a deeply loyal, knowledgeable crew to build alongside. People counting on title or authority to force change will get frustrated fast.

The Hiring Manager

You'll report to the Operations Finance Manager — a roll-up-your-sleeves leader who rose through big manufacturing settings and brings a practical, improvement-minded approach to ops finance. She's actively shaping the team's structure, has a defined view of how this seat grows, and will invest real energy in the right person. She's also level-headed about AI and automation: with the CFO driving the capability push, she wants someone eager to grow with the team rather than a fully polished expert on day one.

Your Team

You'll start with no direct reports. As the new Midwest plant comes online, the team is slated to grow, and you'll likely gain influence over — or informal mentorship of — a future analyst. The finance group is small and collegial, with real room to reshape how the work gets done.

The Culture

You can read this culture straight off its tenure figures: a company-wide average north of seven years, with corporate and sales teams above eleven. This is decidedly not a churn-and-burn shop. People build long careers here, and the company works hard to make that happen. The tempo is steady and the work carries meaning — the products are tangible, the plants are tangible, and the people behind them have been at it for generations.

Systems & ERP

Microsoft Dynamics 365 serves as the system of record. Power BI and Power Automate are either in play or being stood up. The BOM consolidation work will mean getting deep into D365's inventory and production modules. You'll be expected to know Excel through its advanced functions and macros/VBA. Comfort with AI and automation tools is a plus and something you'll build collaboratively — it isn't a hard requirement to clear up front.

Travel & Remote

This position can sit at the Dallas corporate office (relocating to Plano/Granite Park in roughly a year), or at the plant sites in Garland TX, Wooster OH, or Casa Grande AZ. Expect some travel to all of the plants — the hiring manager is aiming for at least one visit per site each quarter, which will fold in the new Midwest facility once it's running. Travel stays modest but matters for building relationships.

The Benefits

A $0-premium health plan option (employee-only, no deductible); a 401(k) matching 50% of the first 8% you contribute, plus safe harbor and profit-sharing dollars; employer-paid short- and long-term disability; employer-paid life and AD&D coverage at 2× your salary; four weeks of PTO each year; 20 floating hours plus 6 holidays; and volunteer time off, tuition reimbursement, and fitness membership reimbursement.

The Location

Dallas, TX (corporate) or the plant sites in Garland TX, Wooster OH, or Casa Grande AZ. The corporate office is set to move to Plano, TX (Granite Park) in about a year.