Director, Inventory and Cost Accounting

Reports to: VP & Global Corporate Controller Leads the global Inventory and Costing Teams; owns end-to-end inventory accounting governance across ERPs and regions, ensuring inventory existence, valuation, completeness/accuracy, profitability insight, and accurate reporting while maintaining SOX and audit readiness.

• Ensure manufacturing and warehouse inventory, as well as other plant assets (e.g. Spare Parts and plant PP&E) physically exists and is owned, including inventory held at 3PL locations.
• Ensure inventory, WIP, and other plant assets (e.g. Spare Parts and plant PP&E) are valued in accordance with GAAP and policy; approve and govern reserve methodologies (E&O, scrap, shrink).
• Oversee cycle counts, physical inventories, and reconciliation of variances; set global standards, thresholds, and escalation paths.
• Own annual standard cost roll and interim updates across business units and ERPs; ensure consistent costing policy and change control.
• Ensure all manufacturing and warehousing activity is fully captured in financial records; oversee inventory subledger (RM/WIP/FG) reconciliation and production order settlement.
• Analyze PPV, production variances, absorption, and overhead rates; partner with plant leadership to interpret cost drivers and margin impacts.
• Prepare/review plant P&Ls and absorption reports; deliver KPIs/dashboards and operational performance reporting for ELT/BOD.
• Coordinate audit requests, SOX documentation, and management commentary; ensure controls are designed, operating, and evidenced.
• Partner with Master Data to validate completeness/accuracy of material master data, BOMs, and routings; drive data governance.
• Partner with IT to prioritize ERP configurations (AAI/DMAAI), automation, and data warehouse/Blackline enablement to reduce manual work and strengthen preventive controls.
• Support cost simulations for pricing/sourcing/footprint decisions and validate savings from continuous improvement initiatives.
• Monthly inventory/cost close governance package (recons, reserves, key variances, exceptions).
• Quarterly standard cost roll governance package (assumptions, approvals, audit trail).
• Quarterly reserve methodology review and effectiveness assessment.
• Quarterly inventory existence governance (count results, discrepancy trends, corrective actions).
• Executive dashboards and periodic end‑to‑end profitability reviews.
• Global inventory/costing policy ownership; documented procedures and SOX control narratives.
• Review/approval of significant inventory adjustments, reserves, and costing changes.
• Oversight of inventory related GR/IR (RNV) cut-off and aged item follow-up governance.
• Audit readiness: evidence standards, sampling support, remediation tracking.
• Plant/Operations leadership and Supply Chain
• FP&A (final reserve and variance outputs; business impact)
• Master Data (BOM/routing/item governance)
• IT/Data & Automation (JDE, SAP, BC, IFS; Blackline)
• Internal/External Audit
• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field; CPA strongly preferred.
• 8-10+ years of experience in manufacturing accounting, cost accounting, or operations finance; 3-5 years public accounting experience, preferably with Big 4.
• Strong hands‑on experience with SAP FI/CO and MM, including costing, material ledger, and production order settlement.
• Deep understanding of standard costing, inventory valuation, and manufacturing operations.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate operational data into financial insights.
• Experience with SOX controls, audit support, and process documentation.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to partner effectively with plant and corporate teams.
• Experience in multi‑plant or global manufacturing environments.
• Familiarity with automation tools (e.g., Power BI, Alteryx, BlackLine).
• Background in continuous improvement, Lean, or Six Sigma environments.
• Experience with advanced SAP modules such as S/4HANA, Product Costing, or Material Ledger Actual Costing.

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