Cost Analyst - Manufacturing

•NATURE AND SCOPE OF THE POSITION

The Cost Analyst’s primary responsibility is to closely monitor all manufacturing costs in the plant including materials, labor, variable overhead, and fixed overhead. The Cost Analyst reviews all production jobs to ensure accurate standard costs are applied and accurate actual costs are recorded to the job prior to closing the jobs. With accurate costing information, the Cost Analyst assesses operational efficiency, provides manufacturing variances to management and, where appropriate, makes improvement recommendations. The Cost Analyst ensures both customer invoices/credits and vendor invoices are billed/vouchered accurately, on time, and bridged over to SAP without errors. The Cost Analyst is responsible for preparing and posting month-end general journals and preparing and distributing the monthly financial package, which includes the cost statement and variance analysis. The Cost Analyst monitors inventory by coordinating with the cycle count and physical count personnel to ensure “inventory on hand reports” reflect accurate plant inventory levels. The Cost Analyst is also responsible for monitoring aged inventory by coordinating with Production Planning and Plant Management to propose the proper reserve and/or disposition.

The Cost Analyst is the main support and backup for the Plant Controller and assists the Plant Controller in routine and non-routine tasks, such as the annual budget and the monthly forecast processes, manufacturing standards updates, Alcan policies and SOX requirement compliances, internal or external auditing, capital project (before and after) analysis and other special projects.

•MAIN PURPOSE OF JOB
The Cost Analyst ensures accuracy of product structure and routing, performs financial analysis of product cost and profitability, and identifies accountability for manufacturing variances. Also responsible for timely month-end closing, completing journal entries, handling AP, and preparing financial statement packages.

•RESPONSIBILITES
•Integrity of the costing system
•Review and closing all production jobs
•Cost analysis on all production jobs
•Customer profitability analysis
•Identifying and tracking potential manufacturing improvement opportunities
•Inventory adjustments
•Preparation of general journals for month-end closing
•Preparation of month-end financial statement package
•Inter-company activity reconciliation
•Assisting Plant Controller on annual budget and monthly forecast
•Assisting plant controller in ensuring that all plant activities and procedures are in compliance with Alcan policies and SOX requirements.
REQUIREMENTS
EDUCATION: BS in Accounting or equivalent.

EXPERIENCE: A minimum of (3) years experience in a similar role in a manufacturing environment preferred.

SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE: Knowledgeable and experienced with cost accounting.

BUSINESS KNOWLEDGE: Training in the concepts of profit/loss responsibilities. Familiarity with continuous improvement programs and methodologies.

SKILLS: Strong computer literacy, especially in Microsoft Office products. Comfortable using a variety of software packages, preferably AS400 and SAP. Able to think clearly and analytically to resolve theoretical and computer system accounting problems. Ability to work with a wide range of people from production to senior management; must be able to develop positive working relationships. Active listening skills are essential.