Cost Accountant

Force; Kildare; On-site; EUR 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Competitive salary

Career development

Job summary

Force in Ireland is seeking a qualified Cost Accountant to join the finance team in a hybrid role. You will own end-to-end costing for new product development, maintain BOMs and costings, support pricing decisions, and lead COPs budgeting while driving margin improvements.

You will partner with Operations, Procurement and NPD to provide cost insight, validation of cost changes, and support a major systems implementation. Hybrid working follows training and offers a competitive package.

Qualifications

• Qualified accountant with ACA/ACCA/CIMA.
• Experience in standard costing within a manufacturing environment.
• Strong ERP systems experience, ideally IFS, including product costing, BOMs, inventory and reporting.
• Advanced Excel with strong analytical and reconciliation ability.
• Confident communicator across Finance, Operations, Sales and Procurement.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end costing for New Product Development, including product costings, recipe and packaging changes, and post-launch reviews.
• Maintain accurate product, BOM and routing costings.
• Support pricing, tenders and commercial proposals through costing, scenario modelling and sensitivity analysis.
• Lead the annual Costs of Production (COPs) budget process.
• Develop and enhance the product costing framework to support strategic decision-making and margin optimisation.
• Maintain strong controls, governance and documentation across costing processes.
• Act as a finance business partner to Operations and NPD, providing timely cost insight.
• Partner with Procurement to validate cost changes, monitor savings initiatives and maintain a clear audit trail.
• Support the implementation of a new NPD/Recipe system, including testing, data validation, go-live support and post-implementation review.
• Review and analyse weekly material and labour variance reports, identifying trends and opportunities for improvement.
• Analyse and report weekly Purchase Price Variance (PPV).
• Support monthly performance reviews with commentary on cost movements, operational drivers and corrective actions.

Skills

Professional qualification (ACA/ACCA/C

Standard costing

ERP systems (IFS)

Product costing

Advanced Excel

Stakeholder communication

Education

ACCA/ACA/CIMA

Tools

IFS ERP

Job description

Cost Accountant

Co. Kildare

Hybrid Working

Our client, a leading food manufacturing business, is seeking a qualified Cost Accountant to join their finance team.

This is a fantastic opportunity to join a fast-paced manufacturing environment, partnering with Operations, Procurement, NPD and Commercial teams to deliver robust product costing, financial insight and process improvement. You'll also play a key role in an exciting systems implementation project.

Hybrid working is available following an initial short training period, and the role comes with a genuinely attractive salary and benefits package.

The Role:

Product Costing & Financial Insight

• Own end-to-end costing for New Product Development, including product costings, recipe and packaging changes, and post-launch reviews.
• Maintain accurate product, BOM and routing costings.
• Support pricing, tenders and commercial proposals through costing, scenario modelling and sensitivity analysis.
• Lead the annual Costs of Production (COPs) budget process.
• Develop and enhance the product costing framework to support strategic decision-making and margin optimisation.
• Maintain strong controls, governance and documentation across costing processes.
• Act as a finance business partner to Operations and NPD, providing timely cost insight.
• Partner with Procurement to validate cost changes, monitor savings initiatives and maintain a clear audit trail.
• Support the implementation of a new NPD/Recipe system, including testing, data validation, go-live support and post-implementation review.

Operational Performance

• Review and analyse weekly material and labour variance reports, identifying trends and opportunities for improvement.
• Analyse and report weekly Purchase Price Variance (PPV).
• Support monthly performance reviews with commentary on cost movements, operational drivers and corrective actions.

About You:

• Professionally qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA or CIMA).
• Experience in standard costing within a manufacturing environment.
• Strong ERP systems experience, ideally IFS, including product costing, BOMs, inventory and reporting.
• Advanced Excel skills with strong analytical and reconciliation ability.
• Confident communicator, able to build relationships across Finance, Operations, Sales, Procurement and other business functions.
• Proactive, organised and solutions-focused, with the ability to thrive in a busy manufacturing environment.

What's on Offer:

• Competitive salary and benefits package.
• Hybrid working following the training period.
• Opportunity to play a key role in a major systems implementation.
• A collaborative, business-partnering finance environment.
• Excellent long-term career development within a successful and growing organisation.