Sr. Manufacturing Cost Accountant

Must have manufacturing AND Plant experience.

A growing advanced hardware manufacturer in the Washington, DC metro area is hiring its first Sr. Manufacturing Accountant.

The company is moving from development into full scale production, and there is no manufacturing cost accounting function in place today. You would build it.

This is a hands on cost accounting role at its core.

You will establish costing methodology for a complex multi component product, stand up inventory and WIP valuation, build the variance analysis that tells operations where the money is actually going, and own the accounting side of a new ERP implementation that is already underway.

You will be the daily finance presence at the production facility, working directly with the operations and engineering teams, while reporting to finance leadership at the parent organization.

The person who succeeds here is a builder.

The processes do not exist yet, the answers are not written down, and leadership is looking for someone who identifies what needs attention and either fixes it or routes it to the right owner without waiting to be asked.

What You Will Own

• Cost accounting. Develop and document costing methodology for all product models, components and sub assemblies. Standard and actual costing, cost per unit, labor and overhead absorption.

• Inventory and WIP. Accurate valuation of raw materials, work in progress and finished goods. Cycle counting, physical inventory audits, and reserves for excess and obsolete components.

• Variance analysis. Track and analyze material, labor and overhead variances, explain the root causes, and drive corrective action with production leadership.

• Bills of material. Partner with engineering and production to keep BOM accuracy tight and to track cost through the New Product Introduction phase.

• ERP implementation. Own the accounting, manufacturing and inventory modules through implementation and optimization of a new ERP system.

• Operational FP&A. Budgets, rolling forecasts and operational KPIs with the operations and supply chain leaders. CapEx evaluation with ROI and payback analysis. Make versus buy modeling for critical components.

• Internal controls. Design the controls around the production floor, inventory movement and procurement as the company scales.

• General accounting. Month end close, journal entries, reconciliations, AP and AR oversight, GAAP compliance, and support for external audits.

What You Bring

Required:

• Hands on manufacturing cost accounting inside a producing plant. Standard and actual costing, WIP, inventory valuation, labor and overhead absorption, cost per unit.

This is the core of the role and the single most important qualification.

• Five or more years of progressive accounting or finance experience, with a minimum of three recent years in cost or manufacturing accounting.

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance or a related field.

• Practical command of bills of material, routing and hardware supply chain dynamics, demonstrated through the accounting work rather than theoretically.

• Hands on experience implementing, configuring or owning modules within a major ERP system.

• Ability to translate financial concepts for engineers, plant managers and operations teams who do not speak finance.

• Self managing. This is a standalone position at the facility with a remote reporting line.

Preferred:

• Aerospace and defense manufacturing experience. Automotive, EV or other complex hardware manufacturing is also a strong fit.

• Deltek Costpoint experience, whether implementation or module ownership.

• Government contracting exposure and DCAA audit readiness orientation.

• Early stage or high growth company experience, specifically building processes rather than maintaining established ones.

• Experience working alongside technical founders and engineering led leadership.

• CMA and/or CPIM.

• Advanced Excel plus data visualization for operational dashboards.

Work Arrangement and Compensation

• Location: Onsite five days a week at the production facility in Northern Virginia. This is firm and is not a hybrid or remote role.

• Base salary: $125,000 to $155,000, depending on experience.

• Bonus: Discretionary annual bonus.

• Benefits: 100% of medical, dental and vision premiums paid by the company up to a generous annual cap, meaning most employees pay nothing for premiums. A 401(k) employer match well above market. Three weeks PTO plus sick time, eight weeks paid parental leave, company paid life, AD&D and disability coverage, FSAs and an employee assistance program.

• Relocation: Considered case by case for the right candidate.

Export Control Requirement

This job requires access to EAR and ITAR export controlled information that is accessible only by U.S. Persons as defined by 22 CFR 120.62 and 15 CFR 772.1, meaning a U.S. citizen or national, a lawful permanent resident, or a person admitted as a refugee or granted asylum. Please confirm you are a US Person.