Staff Cost Accountant

Job Description

Job Description

Senior Cost Analyst — St. Johnsbury

MMG Industrial Group

Reports to:  Group Controller

Location:  St. Johnsbury, VT — on-site; this is a hands-on, site-based role

Direct Reports:  None — individual contributor

Division:  MMG Industrial Group

Employment Type:  Full-time, exempt

Position Summary

MMG is seeking a Senior Cost Analyst to own standard cost accounting and inventory valuation at its St. Johnsbury, VT site, a core Industrial division manufacturing location. This is an individual-contributor role reporting to the Group Controller, focused on the technical rigor of cost accounting: setting and maintaining standard costs, driving variance analysis to root cause, and ensuring inventory is valued accurately and defensibly for both internal reporting and external audit. The role works day-to-day alongside site operations and accounting staff but does not carry people-management responsibility — the value delivered is analytical depth and cost-accounting discipline.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the standard cost-setting process for the site — establish and maintain standard costs at the part and routing level and lead the annual (or as-needed) standard cost roll in coordination with the Group Controller.
• Drive monthly variance analysis — work-order variance, purchase price variance, absorption variance — down to root cause, and present findings in terms operations leadership can act on.
• Own inventory valuation integrity: reconcile perpetual inventory to the general ledger, manage cycle-count and physical-inventory reconciliation, and maintain excess-and-obsolete (E&O) reserve analysis on a recurring schedule.
• Maintain BOM and routing accuracy in the site's ERP costing module in partnership with engineering and operations, flagging discrepancies that distort standard cost before they reach the close.
• Support month-end and quarter-end close for all cost-accounting and inventory-related entries, on the calendar set by the Group Controller.
• Build and maintain Excel-based costing models, variance dashboards, and ad hoc analyses; use AI-enabled tools to accelerate data reconciliation, variance root-causing, and reporting turnaround.
• Support external audit requests related to inventory valuation, standard costing, and E&O reserves with organized, audit-ready documentation.
• Partner proactively with the Industrial Division Controller and site operations leadership on costing questions tied to new part introduction, make/buy decisions, and margin analysis.
• Escalate cost-accounting control gaps or data-integrity risks to the Group Controller directly rather than resolving unilaterally.
  
  
  Qualifications
• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field.
• 5–7+ years of progressive cost accounting experience in a manufacturing environment, with direct ownership of standard costing and variance analysis.
• Advanced Excel proficiency required — complex formulas, pivot tables, and financial/costing models built and maintained independently.
• Working familiarity with AI-enabled analysis tools (e.g., Excel Copilot, Claude, or similar) and a demonstrated ability to apply them to accelerate reconciliation and analysis work.
• E2 (Shoptech) or JobBoss2 ERP experience strongly preferred; general comfort with ERP costing/inventory modules required at minimum.
• Demonstrated technical command of standard costing, BOM/routing structures, absorption and work-order variance, and E&O reserve methodology.
• Comfortable operating as an individual contributor without a supervisory layer — able to drive analysis independently and communicate proactively with a Group Controller who is not always on-site.
• Aerospace, defense, medical device, or semiconductor OEM manufacturing experience a plus.

First 90 / 180 Days — Success Metrics 90 Days

• Complete a full audit of the site's current standard costs against actual BOM/routing data; document discrepancies and a remediation plan.
• Deliver the first full month-end variance analysis package on schedule, reviewed and accepted by the Group Controller.
• Establish a current, reconciled E&O reserve schedule with clear methodology.

180 Days

• Lead the site's next standard cost roll independently, with the Group Controller in a review — not hands-on — role.
• Reduce unexplained/unresolved variance line items to a defined threshold for two consecutive months.
• Have a documented cycle-count program in place with reconciliation accuracy meeting group standards.

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