Senior Manager, Cost Accounting Americas

About the role

The Senior Manager, Cost Accounting – Americas is a hands-on leadership role responsible for regional cost accounting, inventory accounting, fixed asset and capital expenditure accounting oversight, and related control activities across the Americas. This position supports accurate financial reporting, standard costing, inventory valuation, capital expenditure controls, and effective internal controls in a global public company environment.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop a regional team responsible for cost accounting, inventory accounting, fixed asset accounting, and related activities.
• Set clear expectations, priorities, and accountability for timely and accurate execution of close, reporting, reconciliations, and control activities.
• Promote strong ownership, timely issue resolution, clear communication, and consistent execution across the Americas.
• Support training, knowledge transfer, succession planning, and development of team capabilities.
• Address performance issues directly and in a timely manner and provide clear, constructive feedback.
• Lead regional cost accounting activities, including standard costing, product costing, purchase price variance analysis, inventory valuation, manufacturing variance analysis, inventory reserves, and related close processes.
• Oversee the standard cost rollout process and related analysis, including impacts to gross margin, transfer pricing, and intercompany profit.
• Review, analyze, and explain cost drivers, manufacturing variances, inventory movements, reserves, and cost of goods sold results.
• Ensure inventory and cost accounting results are accurate, complete, and consistently reported in accordance with company policy and U.S. GAAP.
• Partner with plant controllers and finance teams to resolve cost accounting issues and improve cost visibility.

Inventory, Fixed Asset, and Capital Expenditure Oversight

• Oversee inventory, fixed assets, and capital expenditure accounting and control activities across the Americas.
• Support annual physical inventories, cycle counts, inventory reconciliations, inventory reserves, and related documentation.
• Monitor and support fixed asset and capital expenditure activity, including policy compliance, reconciliations, documentation, issue follow-up, and timely escalation.
• Provide regional guidance and coordination for inventory accounting, physical inventory, purchase price variances, fixed assets, capital expenditures, freight, tariffs, and related control activities.
• Ensure issues are properly documented, escalated, and resolved in a timely manner.
• Support accurate and timely month-end, quarter-end, and year-end close activities within the role’s scope.
• Review and support close activities related to inventory, cost of goods sold, reserves, manufacturing variances, fixed assets, capital expenditures, freight, tariffs, and related accounts.
• Prepare, review, and analyze account reconciliations, journal entries, variance analysis, management reporting, and audit support.
• Provide clear explanations of cost accounting results, trends, and financial impacts for management review.
• Support leadership reporting and ad hoc analysis related to cost accounting, inventory, and operational results.
• Support compliance with U.S. GAAP, SOX, internal control requirements, and company accounting policies.
• Maintain strong documentation, reconciliations, review evidence, and process support within the role’s scope.
• Support internal and external audit requests, including quarter-end and year-end audit deliverables.
• Identify control weaknesses, process gaps, and reporting risks and drive practical, sustainable corrective actions.
• Promote audit readiness throughout the year, not only during audit periods.
• Drive standardization, automation, reporting improvements, and continuous improvement across cost accounting, inventory accounting, fixed asset controls, and related regional processes.
• Challenge existing processes and identify opportunities to improve accuracy, efficiency, visibility, and control effectiveness.
• Develop and maintain process documentation and standard operating procedures for key activities.
• Leverage technology, automation, and reporting tools where appropriate to improve analysis, reporting, process efficiency, and control visibility.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner closely with plant finance, operations, supply chain, corporate accounting, tax, internal controls, IT, and regional leadership to support business needs and company objectives.
• Provide guidance and issue resolution to plant controllers and finance teams across the Americas.
• Communicate clearly with stakeholders at different levels of the organization, including complex cost accounting topics in a practical and business-focused way.
• Support special projects, regional initiatives, and ad hoc requests as needed.