Cost Accountant

Quest Employment; Peterborough; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Quest Employment Ltd. is seeking an experienced Cost Accountant with a strong manufacturing background. You will work closely with Production Managers and senior leaders to understand manufacturing costs and identify where money, materials or efficiency are being lost.

Role focuses on turning financial data into practical improvements, analysing costs across materials, labour, waste, overheads and variances, and supporting commercial decisions with robust budgeting and forecasting.

Qualifications

• Experience in manufacturing costing and financial analysis is essential.
• ACCA/CIMA/ACA qualification is required.
• Minimum 5 years in finance, financial management or business analysis.
• Strong product costing, margins and profitability knowledge.
• Advanced Excel skills and ability to challenge operational costs.

Responsibilities

• Analyse manufacturing costs (materials, labour, overheads, waste).
• Investigate cost variances and drivers.
• Review product profitability, margins and production efficiency.
• Identify cost savings with Production/Operations.
• Spend time on shop floor to understand processes.
• Prepare budgets, forecasts and management reports.
• Challenge costs and processes to drive improvements.
• Support senior management with financial insight for decisions.
• Track cost-saving initiatives and measure impact.

Skills

Cost accounting

Product costing & margins

Budgeting & forecasting

Variance analysis

Advanced Excel

Manufacturing experience

Communicating with operations managers

Education

ACCA, CIMA or ACA qualification

Tools

Excel

Job description

The Role

Are you the kind of Accountant who wants to understand what's happening behind the numbers, rather than just report on them?

Then this could be right up your street!

We're looking for an experienced Cost Accountant with a strong manufacturing background who enjoys getting involved in the operation, asking questions and finding ways to improve profitability.

This isn't a role where you'll spend all day sitting in Finance.

You’ll be working closely with Production Managers, Operations and senior leadership, understanding exactly what it costs to manufacture products and identifying where money, materials or efficiency are being lost.

We need someone who can turn financial data into meaningful, practical improvements.

What You'll Be Doing

• Analysing manufacturing costs, including materials, labour, waste and overheads.
• Investigating cost variances and understanding what's driving them.
• Reviewing product profitability, margins and production efficiency.
• Working closely with Production and Operations to identify cost savings.
• Spending time on the shop floor to understand manufacturing processes.
• Preparing budgets, forecasts and management reports.
• Challenging costs and processes where improvements can be made.
• Supporting senior management with financial insight and commercial decisions.
• Tracking cost-saving initiatives and measuring their impact.

What You'll Need

Manufacturing experience is absolutely essential.

We’re not just looking for someone who has worked for a manufacturing company. We need someone who understands how manufacturing works and has been actively involved with operational teams.

You’ll also need:

• ACCA, CIMA or ACA qualification.
• At least 5 years’ experience in finance, financial management or business analysis.
• Proven manufacturing costing and financial analysis experience.
• Strong knowledge of product costing, margins and profitability.
• Experience in budgeting, forecasting and variance analysis.
• Advanced Excel skills.
• Confidence working with and constructively challenging operational managers.
• A practical, commercially minded approach to problem-solving.

Most importantly, you’ll be naturally curious, comfortable asking questions and able to explain financial information in a way that makes sense to people outside Finance.

What You Might Not Like

If you’re happiest sitting behind a spreadsheet all day, this probably isn’t your role.

Yes, there’s plenty of financial analysis involved.

But there are also production floors, safety shoes, operational meetings and conversations that don’t always happen behind a desk!

You’ll need to be comfortable challenging decisions, digging into problems and occasionally asking the awkward questions.

The business also experiences seasonal peaks, so some additional flexibility may be needed during particularly busy periods.

PLEASE NOTE:

Our client is unable to offer visa sponsorship or relocation assistance. Applicants must live locally to Peterborough, hold a valid driving licence and have access to their own transport.