Director, Inventory and Cost Accounting

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.