Manufacturing Cost Accountant

FULL-TIME | ON-SITE | VINELAND, NJ

Reports To: Financial Controller

Position Summary

Maestri D'Italia is seeking a hands-on Manufacturing Cost Accountant to support our production, warehouse, inventory, and pricing operations. This role is responsible for analyzing and understanding the true cost of manufacturing products from raw material receiving through production, packaging, warehousing, and final shipment.

This is not a remote or purely desk-based accounting position. The successful candidate will regularly work alongside Operations, Production, Purchasing, and Warehouse teams to understand manufacturing processes, validate cost drivers, analyze yields, labor utilization, material usage, waste, and inventory movement.

The ideal candidate has manufacturing cost accounting experience and enjoys being on the production floor, asking questions, gathering data, and identifying opportunities to improve profitability and operational efficiency.

This role will also support pricing and profitability decisions by developing and maintaining detailed SKU cost cards that accurately reflect the current cost of each product, including raw materials, labor, packaging, overhead, freight, and other applicable cost components.

Key Responsibilities

Product Costing & Manufacturing Analysis

Analyze product costs from raw material receipt through finished goods shipment.
Maintain and update standard costs, Bills of Material (BOMs), labor standards, and overhead allocations.
Calculate and analyze material, labor, packaging, freight, and overhead costs.
Review and update costing for new and existing products.
Develop and maintain detailed cost cards for all current and new SKUs.
Calculate and update actual product costs by analyzing all cost components, including raw materials, labor, packaging, freight, and manufacturing overhead.
Monitor and investigate manufacturing variances.
Analyze production yields, labor efficiency, waste, scrap, and rework costs.
Evaluate product profitability and margin performance.
Support product pricing decisions through accurate cost and margin analysis.
Provide recommendations based on cost trends, margin opportunities, and operational efficiencies.

Inventory & Warehouse Cost Control

Ensure accurate inventory valuation and inventory accounting.
Reconcile inventory subledger to the general ledger.
Participate in physical inventories and cycle counts.
Investigate inventory discrepancies, shrinkage, and obsolete inventory.
Partner with warehouse teams to improve inventory accuracy and controls.
Analyze inventory movements and identify cost impacts.

Financial Analysis & Reporting

Prepare monthly cost reports, variance analysis, and profitability reporting.
Analyze purchase price, labor, yield, and overhead variances.
Support month-end close activities related to inventory and manufacturing costs.
Prepare journal entries and account reconciliations.
Assist with budgeting, forecasting, and annual standard cost updates.
Provide profitability analysis by product, customer, and production line.
Develop reporting that provides visibility into product costs, margins, and manufacturing performance.

Operations Partnership

Work directly with Production, Operations, Warehouse, Purchasing, and Sales teams to identify cost-saving opportunities and support profitability initiatives.
Spend time on the production floor observing processes and validating cost assumptions.
Assist with process improvement initiatives that improve efficiency and reduce costs.
Support internal and external audits related to inventory and costing.
Ensure compliance with company policies and internal controls.

Qualifications

Required

Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business, or related field.
3+ years of cost accounting experience within a manufacturing environment.
Strong understanding of inventory accounting, product costing, and manufacturing operations.
Experience developing product cost models, cost sheets, or SKU-level costing analysis.
Experience partnering directly with production and operational teams.
Advanced Microsoft Excel skills including Pivot Tables, XLOOKUP/VLOOKUP, formulas, and data analysis.
Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
Ability to communicate effectively with both financial and operational teams.

Preferred

Food manufacturing experience strongly preferred.
Experience with ERP systems and inventory management software (Infinity experience is a plus).
Experience with standard costing, variance analysis, inventory controls, and profitability analysis.
Knowledge of Power BI or other reporting tools.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Inventory accuracy
Costing accuracy
Accuracy and timeliness of SKU cost card updates
Timely month-end close completion
Variance reporting accuracy
Gross margin improvement
Product margin visibility and reporting
Reduction in inventory discrepancies and obsolete inventory
Identification and implementation of cost-saving opportunities

Work Environment

Fully on-site position based in Vineland, NJ.
Regular presence on the manufacturing floor and in warehouse operations is required.
Frequent interaction with Production, Warehouse, Purchasing, Quality, Sales, and Operations teams.
Occasional travel between facilities may be required.

Compensation

$80,000 - $90,000 annually, based on experience.

Important Note

This position requires hands-on involvement with manufacturing operations. Candidates should be comfortable spending time on the production floor, understanding how products are made, building and maintaining SKU cost cards, analyzing operational costs, supporting pricing decisions, and partnering with cross-functional teams to improve profitability and efficiency.

Pay: $80,000.00 - $90,000.00 per year

Benefits:

401(k)
Dental insurance
Health insurance
Paid sick time
Vision insurance

Work Location: In person

Job description