Cost Accounting & Purchasing Controls Manager

CSP; Auburn (AL); On-site; USD 90,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Affordable health benefits

401k with company match

Life insurance

Job summary

CSP, a leader in forming and molding lightweight, advanced composite components for transportation, seeks a seasoned cost accountant/purchasing controller. You will own BOM costs, drive standard costing, and oversee ECC cost impacts while leading variance analyses and material cost dashboards.

Success requires 7–10+ years in cost accounting, SAP/Oracle proficiency, and cross-functional leadership. Join CSP to influence cost transparency, supplier cost management, and cost reduction initiatives

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field (CPA/CMA preferred).
• 7-10+ years of experience in cost accounting and/or purchasing controlling.
• Experience with ERP systems (SAP, Oracle).
• Strong experience with standard costing and variance analysis.
• Automotive Tier 1 supplier experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Own BOM and routing cost structures, ensuring accuracy and auditability.
• Lead standard cost development, maintenance, and cost rolls.
• ECC as financial lead, quantify cost impacts and updates.
• Analyze and report material, freight, manufacturing methods, and absorption variances.
• Drive material and freight planning and cost analysis aligned with forecast volumes.
• Lead labor rate and overhead rate calculation processes.
• Maintain and govern cost set integrity across ERP systems.
• Own PPV analysis, tracking, and forecasting in Purchasing Controlling.
• Develop and maintain material cost index dashboards.
• Conduct deep-dive cost analysis on direct material and MRO spend.

Skills

Cost accounting

Purchasing controls

Variance analysis

ERP systems experience

Cross-functional leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance

CPA/CMA preferred

Tools

SAP

Oracle

Job description

CSP is the industry leader in the formulation and molding of lightweight, advanced composite components for the transportation industries. As an innovative, full-service Tier One supplier, we offer an entrepreneurial environment where you're only limited by your own imagination. In addition to our team-focused environment, we provide industry-leading benefits, called BENEfits4U.

Our comprehensive offering includes: affordable medical, dental, and vision care; flexible spending accounts; life insurance; 401k with company match and much, much more.

• affordable medical, dental, and vision care
• flexible spending accounts
• life insurance
• 401k with company match
• much, much more

Key Responsibilities – Cost Accounting & Product Costing

• Own Bill of Material (BOM) and routing cost structures, ensuring accuracy, transparency, and auditability
• Lead standard cost (STD) development, maintenance, and periodic cost rolls
• Serve as financial lead for Engineering Change Control (ECC), quantifying cost impacts and ensuring timely updates
• Analyze and report material, freight, manufacturing methods, and absorption variances
• Drive material and freight planning and cost analysis aligned with forecast volumes
• Lead labor rate and overhead rate calculation processes
• Maintain and govern current cost set integrity across ERP systems

Key Responsibilities – Purchasing Controlling

• Own Purchase Price Variance (PPV) analysis, tracking, and forecasting
• Act as financial lead for purchasing performance (direct and indirect spend)
• Develop and maintain material cost index dashboards
• Conduct deep-dive cost analysis on direct material and MRO spend
• Create and monitor supplier risk heatmaps
• Partner with Purchasing on cost reduction validation and savings tracking

Outputs / Deliverables

• Approved standard cost files
• BOM-level cost transparency and roll-up visibility
• Cost change impact summaries
• Standard vs. actual variance diagnostics
• Change logs and assumption documentation
• Material yield and usage dashboards
• Scrap cost decomposition
• BOM accuracy reports
• Cost waterfall and index-based models

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Frequency of standard cost updates
• Percentage of standards reviewed within cycle
• Reduction in unexplained variances
• Alignment of quoted vs. standard costs
• Usage variance reduction
• BOM accuracy rate
• Responsiveness to engineering and operations changes
• PPV trends and accuracy
• Percentage of validated vs. claimed savings
• Recovery lag on supplier price increases
• Material cost forecast accuracy

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field (CPA/CMA preferred)
• 7-10+ years of experience in cost accounting and/or purchasing controlling
• Experience with ERP systems (SAP, Oracle)
• Strong experience with standard costing and variance analysis
• Automotive Tier 1 supplier experience preferred
• Strong analytical and cross-functional leadership skills

If you enjoy innovation, and an opportunity to learn and contribute to a growing organization, CSP is the place for you! Being a CSP employee means having the opportunity to see your impact every day. Our work experience is the combination of everything that’s unique about our culture, our core values, our commitment to your success, and most importantly, our people. We are a team of self-disciplined, hardworking, curious, trustworthy and humble people who make choices according to what is best for the team. We live to collaborate and make a difference.