Cost Accountant – Manufacturing

StevenDouglas; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

StevenDouglas is partnering with a global manufacturing organization to hire a Cost Accountant supporting industrial equipment across energy and infrastructure markets. This hands-on role owns standard costing, inventory accounting, and manufacturing variance analysis across multiple production sites.

You'll work closely with Finance, Operations, and Supply Chain to understand what's driving the numbers, not just report them.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting
• 3–5 years of accounting experience with exposure to cost accounting, inventory, and/or manufacturing
• Strong Excel skills and the ability to build and maintain your own analysis
• Ability to work independently, manage competing priorities, and stay organized in an environment that isn't fully mapped out
• Analytical and detail-oriented, with genuine curiosity about why the numbers move—not just that they moved
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work effectively with both Finance and operational teams

Responsibilities

• Maintain and update standard costs for materials, labor, and overhead across multiple product lines and manufacturing sites
• Analyze purchase price, usage, labor, and overhead absorption variances and explain the “why” behind the numbers to plant and finance leadership
• Own inventory valuation across raw materials, WIP, and finished goods
• Support cycle counts, physical inventories, and excess & obsolete (E&O) reserve analysis
• Prepare and review month-end journal entries related to inventory, COGS, and manufacturing variances
• Reconcile inventory sub-ledgers to the general ledger
• Partner directly with Operations and Supply Chain to understand cost drivers and the financial impact of process changes
• Support the annual or periodic standard cost roll, including BOM and routing validation
• Maintain SOX-compliant controls over inventory and cost accounting processes
• Support external audit requests related to inventory and cost of sales

Skills

Excel

Cost accounting

Analytical

Communication skills

Independent worker

Education

Bachelor's degree in Accounting

Tools

Oracle ERP

OneStream

Job description

StevenDouglas is partnering with a global manufacturing organization on a Cost Accountant supporting industrial equipment used across energy and infrastructure markets.

This is a hands-on role with real ownership of standard costing, inventory accounting, and manufacturing variance analysis across multiple production sites.

You'll work closely with Finance, Operations, and Supply Chain to understand what's driving the numbers not just report them. This is a great fit for someone early-to-mid career in cost accounting who wants meaningful ownership and the opportunity to improve processes rather than simply inherit a finished playbook.

What You'll Do

• Maintain and update standard costs for materials, labor, and overhead across multiple product lines and manufacturing sites
• Analyze purchase price, usage, labor, and overhead absorption variances and explain the “why” behind the numbers to plant and finance leadership
• Own inventory valuation across raw materials, WIP, and finished goods
• Support cycle counts, physical inventories, and excess & obsolete (E&O) reserve analysis
• Prepare and review month-end journal entries related to inventory, COGS, and manufacturing variances
• Reconcile inventory sub-ledgers to the general ledger
• Partner directly with Operations and Supply Chain to understand cost drivers and the financial impact of process changes
• Support the annual or periodic standard cost roll, including BOM and routing validation
• Maintain SOX-compliant controls over inventory and cost accounting processes
• Support external audit requests related to inventory and cost of sales

What You Bring

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting
• 3–5 years of accounting experience, with meaningful exposure to cost accounting, inventory, and/or manufacturing
• Strong Excel skills and the ability to build and maintain your own analysis
• Ability to work independently, manage competing priorities, and stay organized in an environment that isn't fully mapped out
• Analytical and detail-oriented, with genuine curiosity about why the numbers move—not just that they moved
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work effectively with both Finance and operational teams

Nice to Have

• CPA or CMA certification
• Public accounting experience, particularly with manufacturing or industrial clients
• Experience with Oracle or another modern ERP
• Experience with OneStream or a similar EPM/consolidation platform
• Experience working across regions and time zones
• Willingness to travel occasionally, up to approximately 10%, domestically and internationally