Sr. Cost/Data Analyst

ASCENDING; Miami (FL); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

ASCENDING is seeking a Senior Cost & Data Analyst to join our team in Miami with a flexible hybrid schedule. The role focuses on labor cost allocations, data quality, and analytics to support finance and HR decision-making.

The ideal candidate has 7+ years of experience in data or financial analysis, strong Excel skills, and working knowledge of SQL. This contract-to-hire position offers exposure to multi-department data and reporting improvements.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Data Analytics, Economics, Information Systems, or related field (or equivalent).
• 7+ years in data analysis, financial analysis, payroll/HR analytics, or accounting.
• Advanced Excel or Google Sheets with pivot tables, lookups, complex formulas.
• Working knowledge of SQL and handling large datasets.
• Attention to detail with cross-system reconciliation.

Responsibilities

• Prepare and run monthly, quarterly, and year-end labor cost allocations across departments and funding sources.
• Allocate fully loaded labor costs including salary, bonus, benefits, payroll taxes, equity, and other employer costs.
• Reconcile labor costs to payroll, GL, and HRIS; investigate variances and resolve.
• Support month-end close with allocation journals and schedules; assist audit and tax reporting with documentation.
• Build and maintain reports and dashboards on labor cost, headcount, and cost-center trends.
• Partner with FP&A on headcount planning, labor forecasts, and budget-to-actual analysis.

Skills

Advanced Excel

Data analysis

Attention to detail

Stakeholder communication

Adaptability

Education

Bachelor's degree in Finance / Accounting / Data Analytics / Economics / Information Systems

Tools

SQL

HRIS awareness

Job description

Title: Senior Cost & Data Analyst

Location: Miami, FL or within an hour of this area – very flex hybrid work schedule, just want folks to be able to come in from time to time

Term: Contract-to-hire

Position Overview

Our client is building the power infrastructure that makes the AI era possible. As AI demand surges past what the grid and traditional data centers can support, our client provides a new class of power technology proven at gigawatt scale and trusted by the world’s leading cloud and AI companies. Our systems are already deployed across 2.5 GW of hyper-scale campuses, validated by top U.S. national labs, and certified for grid-safe operation by major utilities. With real products in the field, we’re scaling faster than the grid can, transforming power from a bottleneck into a competitive advantage for the companies building the future.

What You’ll Do

Labor cost allocations

• Prepare and run recurring (monthly, quarterly, and year-end) labor cost allocations across departments, cost centers, projects, entities, and funding sources
• Maintain allocation methodologies, drivers, and assumptions (headcount, time tracking, effort reporting, percent-of-time), and document any changes
• Allocate fully loaded labor costs, including salary, bonus, commissions, benefits, payroll taxes, equity compensation, and other employer costs
• Reconcile allocated labor costs to payroll registers, the general ledger, and HRIS records, and investigate and resolve variances
• Support month-end close by delivering allocation journals and supporting schedules on schedule
• Support audit, compliance, and tax needs (e.g., capitalized software labor, R&D credits, grant or contract cost reporting) with clean documentation

Data and reporting

• Build and maintain reports and dashboards on labor cost, headcount, and cost-center trends
• Partner with FP&A on headcount planning, labor forecasts, and budget-to-actual analysis
• Provide ad hoc analysis for People and business leaders on workforce cost questions

Data quality and process improvement

• Monitor the integrity of employee data feeding allocations (org structure, cost center mappings, job and location data, employment status)
• Identify errors and gaps early, and work with HRIS, Payroll, and managers to fix them at the source
• Create and maintain process documentation, controls, and audit trails

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Data Analytics, Economics, Information Systems, or a related field (or equivalent experience)
• 7+ years of experience in data analysis, financial analysis, payroll or HR analytics, or accounting
• Advanced Excel or Google Sheets skills (pivot tables, lookups, complex formulas, reconciliations)
• Working knowledge of SQL, and comfort handling large, messy datasets
• Strong attention to detail with a track record of reconciling data across multiple systems
• Ability to explain technical or methodological topics clearly to non-technical stakeholders
• Discretion in handling confidential employee and compensation data

Preferred

• Experience with labor cost allocations, cost accounting, or month-end close processes
• Familiarity with HRIS and payroll systems (e.g., Workday, ADP, HiBob) and ERP or GL systems (e.g., NetSuite)
• Experience building or improving controls and audit-ready documentation
• Exposure to multi-entity or multi-country allocations