Cost Accountant

WeldFit is seeking a detail-oriented and analytically rigorous Cost Analyst to support our manufacturing processes. This role owns the integrity of costing, inventory valuation, and manufacturing variance analysis, and translates shop floor activity into accurate, decision-useful financial information for leadership. This individual will own job profitability and maintain estimate-to-actual job margins.

The ideal candidate is equally comfortable on the shop floor and in the ERP system, has advanced Excel and financial modeling skills, and can clearly explain cost drivers and margin performance to both finance and operations stakeholders — including board-level audiences. This role is ideal for someone who can be trusted to manage complex analytical work with minimal oversight: someone who doesn't just build models correctly, but questions the inputs, catches errors before they become problems, and takes pride in getting the numbers right the first time.

Duties/Expectations:

Responsibility

• Maintain and update costing (material, labor, and overhead), execute cost analysis, and quantify the P&L and inventory impact of cost changes
• Develop and maintain labor and overhead burden rates; monitor absorption against actual spending and recommend rate adjustments
• Analyze manufacturing variances (purchase price, material usage, labor rate and efficiency, and overhead absorption), determine root cause with operations, and report P&L impact
• Review bills of material and routings in the ERP system for accuracy; partner with engineering and production to correct errors that distort product cost
• Own inventory valuation and reserve analysis, including work-in-process, excess and obsolete review, and cycle count and physical inventory reconciliation
• Perform job, work order, product line, and customer-level margin analysis across both manufactured products and field service work
• Support quoting and pricing with cost build-ups and should-cost analysis, and evaluate make-versus-buy and capital investment decisions
• Build, maintain, and refine advanced financial models (including sensitivity analysis) to support forecasting, strategic planning, and investment decisions
• Assist with annual budgeting, forecasting, and cost setting, including plant spending, headcount, and volume assumptions
• Validate and reconcile data across multiple sources; ensure data integrity across the ERP and reporting tools, and drive process improvement and automation in cost reporting with a full understanding of cost within the ERP system
• Proactively identify and troubleshoot discrepancies in financial and cost data without needing to be told
• Support internal and external audit requests, including cost testing, inventory observation, and documentation of costing methodology
• Create standard and ad-hoc cost reports, tools, and dashboards for operations and executive leadership
• Manage multiple projects and deadlines independently in a fast-paced environment

Education/Experience Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Economics, or a related analytical field
• CPA, CMA, or MBA is a plus
• 4+ years' cost accounting or manufacturing financial analysis experience
• Experience in private equity, investment banking, corporate development, or a related investment role a plus; M&A exposure preferred
• Working knowledge of costing, absorption accounting, and manufacturing variance analysis
• Prior hands-on manufacturing experience; machining, welding/fabrication exposure preferred
• ERP experience required (Infor CloudSuite Industrial / SyteLine preferred), including bill of material, routing, and work order transaction flow
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and financial modeling (pivot tables, complex formulas, large data sets, sensitivity analysis)
• Working knowledge of U.S. GAAP inventory costing (ASC 330) concepts
• Strong understanding of accounting principles and capital structures
• Strong quantitative and analytical competency
• Proven track record of consistent data accuracy — data accuracy is non-negotiable in this role
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to translate cost and financial data into clear insights for non-financial audiences
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, take ownership of deliverables, and manage ambiguity
• Strong attention to detail, organizational skills, and the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment

Required Skills:

• Ability to present cost and margin data in a clear, concise, visual manner
• Excellent communication and presentation skills; comfortable interacting with plant supervision, engineering, executive-level management, and board-level audiences
• Strong Excel skills for cost modeling, forecasting, and large data set analysis (Power Query, Power Pivot, or SQL a plus)
• Excellent PowerPoint presentation skills with an eye for clean presentation design
• Ability to query ERP data and reconcile system output to the general ledger
• Willingness to spend time on the shop floor observing processes and validating routings and labor reporting
• Results-oriented, energetic problem solver with a hands-on mentality
• Excellent analytical skills; solid accounting fundamentals required
• Highly motivated, organized self-starter who can multitask and work independently with minimal oversight
• Questions model inputs, catches errors before they become problems, and takes pride in getting the numbers right the first time
• Comfortable being handed a loosely defined problem and running with it
• Enjoys new challenges, has good business acumen, and adapts accordingly
• Values getting the job done quickly and accurately; creates a schedule to meet deadlines
• Comfortable in a high-growth, evolving environment; ability to streamline functions and a passion to learn and grow