Senior Cost accountant/Gov't accountant
Job Summary
If you're energized by digging into the details behind product costs, understanding how manufacturing performance drives financial results, and owning the integrity of cost data from shop floor to financial statements, this role is for you.
As a Senior Cost Accountant, you'll be at the center of cost visibility and control—ensuring accurate product costing, maintaining disciplined cost structures, analyzing variances, and delivering actionable insights that improve operational performance. Your work will directly influence pricing, profitability, forecasting, and strategic decision-making across complex aerospace manufacturing programs.
This is not a transactional role. You'll own cost accounting processes end-to-end, collaborate closely with operations and program teams, and serve as a key steward of financial accuracy in a highly regulated manufacturing environment.
Job Responsibilities
- Own and Manage the Cost Accounting Structure
- Perform detailed analysis of labor, material, overhead, and subcontract costs
- Analyze manufacturing variances (labor efficiency, material usage, overhead absorption, purchase price variance) and partner with operations to identify root causes
- Maintain and continuously improve cost pools (labor, overhead, G&A) and allocation methodologies
- Support CAS-covered contracts, maintaining consistent and compliant cost accumulation, allocation, and reporting practices
- Evaluate cost trends and identify opportunities for efficiency and margin improvement
- Lead Government Cost Compliance Within the Cost Framework
- Ensure cost accumulation practices comply with FAR, CAS, and government contract requirements
- Prepare and support forward pricing rate proposals (FPRPs), and government submissions
- Leverage financial systems & tools
- Utilize SAP to manage cost accounting structures, standard costs, and reporting
- Support consolidation and reporting through OneStream
- Build advanced cost models, variance analysis, and dashboards using Excel, MS Office tools, and Qlik
Job Qualifications
- US Citizen
- Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance
- 5+ years of progressive experience in cost accounting within a manufacturing environment (aerospace preferred)
- Strong understanding of standard costing, variance analysis, and indirect rate structures
- Experience with cost roll processes in complex BOM environments
- Advanced Excel skills, experience with ERP systems (SAP preferred), and financial reporting software (OneStream preferred)
- Strong analytical mindset with the ability to translate cost data into operational insight
- Hands-on experience supporting audits and government rate submissions
- Working knowledge of FAR and CAS in a government contracting environment
- Direct experience preparing forward pricing rate proposals (FPRP)
- DCAA/DCMA audit support experience
Nice to Have
- CPA or CMA certification