Cost Accounting Partner

Force Recruitment Formerly Pharmaforce Limited; Kildare; Hybrid; EUR 75,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid Working

Competitive Salary

Pension Contribution

Healthcare Plan

Flexible Hours

TPBN1_IJ

Job summary

Food Manufacturing Co. in Kildare is seeking a Commercial Cost Accounting Partner to own end-to-end product costing and support decision making across operations, NPD, procurement and commercial teams.

You will partner with cross-functional teams to improve margin performance, maintain COPs and manage BOM/routing costings, while driving continuous improvement of costing frameworks in a hybrid work environment.

Qualifications

• Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent).
• Experience in manufacturing finance with standard costing, variance analysis and cost control.
• Proven experience partnering with operational and commercial teams.
• Strong understanding of product costing, BOMs, routings, inventory and ERP systems (IFS).
• Excellent analytical skills with strong attention to detail.
• Advanced Excel skills.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end product costing and COP budget processes.
• Partner with Operations, NPD, Procurement and Commercial teams.
• Ensure BOM and routing costings are accurate and aligned with data.
• Support pricing decisions and tenders with robust costing, scenario modelling and sensitivity analysis.
• Lead continuous improvement of the costing framework to optimise margins.
• Analyze weekly material and labour variances; review PPV performance and cost movements.
• Translate financial data into actionable insights for non-finance stakeholders.
• Support monthly performance reviews with clear cost commentary.

Skills

Cost accounting

Financial analysis

Stakeholder influence

Budgeting

Advanced Excel

Education

Professional accounting qualification

Tools

IFS ERP

Job description

Cost Accounting Partner

Food Manufacturing Co. Kildare Hybrid Working Role Overview

The Commercial Cost Accounting Partner will play a key role in supporting business performance through commercial insight, robust costing ownership and strong cross-functional partnership. Working closely with Operations, NPD, Procurement and Commercial teams, this role will provide financial expertise to support decision-making, improve margin performance and ensure accurate product costing across the business. This is a highly collaborative position, acting as a trusted finance partner to key stakeholders while taking ownership of the end-to-end costing process. The successful candidate will combine strong technical costing expertise with the ability to influence, challenge and support business decisions.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end product costing process, providing financial input throughout the New Product Development lifecycle, including initial product costing, recipe changes, packaging updates and post-launch performance reviews.
• Act as a key finance partner to Operations, NPD, Procurement and Commercial teams, providing meaningful cost insights to support strategic and operational decision-making.
• Ensure product, Bill of Materials (BOM) and routing costings are accurate, maintained and aligned with operational data.
• Partner with Commercial teams to support pricing decisions, customer proposals and tenders through robust costing, scenario modelling and sensitivity analysis.
• Own and manage the annual Costs of Production (COPs) budget process, ensuring assumptions are robust, stakeholders are aligned and cost drivers are clearly understood.
• Lead the continuous improvement of the product costing framework, ensuring it supports margin optimisation and commercial decision-making.
• Partner with Procurement to assess cost changes, validate supplier price increases, track savings initiatives and maintain transparency around cost movements.
• Support the implementation of the new NPD/Recipe system, including project involvement, testing, data validation, go-live support and post-implementation review.
• Maintain strong costing controls, governance and documentation to ensure accuracy and consistency across all processes.

Operational Performance & Cost Analysis

• Analyse weekly material and labour variances, identifying trends, cost drivers, inefficiencies and opportunities for improvement.
• Review Purchase Price Variance (PPV) performance, providing insight into key movements and supporting corrective actions.
• Support monthly business performance reviews by providing clear commentary on cost movements, operational drivers and improvement opportunities.
• Translate financial data into practical insights for non-finance stakeholders, helping teams understand the impact of operational decisions on business performance.

Qualifications & Experience

• Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent).
• Experience in a manufacturing finance environment, with strong knowledge of standard costing, variance analysis and cost control.
• Proven experience partnering with operational and commercial teams, with the ability to influence stakeholders and communicate financial insights effectively.
• Strong understanding of product costing, BOMs, routings, inventory and ERP systems (ideally IFS).
• Excellent analytical skills with strong attention to detail and the ability to identify trends and opportunities.
• Advanced Excel skills.
• A proactive, organised and solutions-focused approach with the ability to work collaboratively across the business.

Skills: Product Costing Financial Insight Operational Performance

Benefits

• Hybrid Working
• Competitive Salary
• Pension Contribution
• Healthcare Plan
• Flexible Hours
• TPBN1_IJ