Cost Accountant

Department: Plant Accounting Team

Reports To: Business Controller

Location: Hybrid - Timahoe (3 days onsite /2 days WFH)

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Job Summary:

The Cost Accountant will play a key role in supporting the manufacturing and commercial functions through robust product costing, cost analysis and financial insight. The role partners closely with Operations, NPD, Purchasing and Commercial teams to ensure robust costing, effective cost control and informed decision-making across the business.

Key Tasks and Responsibilities:

Product Costing & Financial Insight

• Own end‑to‑end costing for New Product Development, including initial product costings, recipe and packaging changes, and financial input into post‑launch performance reviews
•  Ensure product, BOM and routing costings remain accurate and aligned to operational data, coordinating required updates
• Support pricing, commercial proposals and tenders through robust costing, scenario modelling and sensitivity analysis.
•  Own the end-to-end COPs budget process, leading the annual update of Costs of Production (COP’s) and ensuring robust assumptions, cross-functional alignment and clear accountability across Operations. 
•  Own and continuously enhance the product costing framework, ensuring it supports strategic decision‑making and long‑term margin optimisation.
• Ensure strong controls, governance and documentation are maintained across all costing processes.
• Act as a finance business partner to Operations and NPD teams, providing timely and actionable cost insights.
• Partner with Procurement on cost changes, validating price uplifts, tracking savings initiatives, and maintaining a clear audit trail of cost movements
• Support the implementation of new NPD/Recipe system, including project involvement, testing, data validation, go-live support and post-implementation review.

Operational Performance & Variance Analysis

• Review and analysis weekly material and labour variance reports, identifying trends, inefficiencies and BOM-related issues.
•  Analyse and report weekly Purchase Price Variance (PPV), providing clear insight into key drivers and trends
• Support monthly performance reviews with clear commentary on cost movements, operational drivers and corrective actions

Qualifications & Experience:

• Professional accounting qualification (ACA, ACCA, CIMA)
•   Experience with standard costing in a manufacturing environment, including variance analysis
•  Strong working knowledge of ERP systems, ideally IFS (product costing, BOM/routings, inventory and reporting)
• High attention to detail with strong analytical and reconciliation capability.
• Ability to communicate complex financial information clearly to both finance and non‑finance stakeholders.
• Advanced Excel skills.
• Proactive, organised and solutions-focused approach

 Hybrid working will commence after a training period.