Cost Accounting Manager Job Lafayette area,Indiana USA,Finance & Banking

Function

Provide accurate, credible, and actionable product, customer, and margin economics to support pricing, mix, and investment decisions. Ensure the integrity of the company's unit costing system and serve as the finance partner to Commercial, Operations, and Supply Chain on all matters related to cost, margin, and profitability transparency.

Duties and Responsibilities

Develop, maintain, and continuously improve the company's unit costing and standard cost models

Ensure product and customer margin accuracy and consistency across the organization

Support pricing decisions through margin analysis, what-if scenarios, and sensitivity analysis

Partner with Commercial teams on quoting, contract reviews, and margin improvement opportunities

Partner with Operations and Supply Chain to validate cost inputs, routings, and assumptions

Lead standard cost setting, annual updates, and ongoing variance analysis

Analyze and explain material, labor, overhead, and yield variances

Support raw material pass-through logic and margin protection mechanisms

Identify margin erosion risks and proactively escalate concerns to finance leadership

Ensure costing logic is clearly documented, understood, and trusted by stakeholders

Support capital and process improvement projects with cost and margin impact analysis

Position Specification

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Finance, Accounting, or related field; MBA preferred

Strong manufacturing, operations, or industrial engineering background
Demonstrated experience with standard costing and variance analysis
Advanced Excel and analytical modeling skills; ERP experience preferred
Ability to communicate complex cost concepts clearly to non-finance partners
Confident, fact-based approach to challenging assumptions and decisions

Performance Standards

Accuracy and credibility of product and customer margins
Timeliness and usefulness of costing support for pricing and investment decisions
Adoption and trust of costing models by Commercial and Operations teams
Proactive identification of margin risks and improvement opportunities