Director, Cost Accounting

This is a chance to build a manufacturing cost accounting function from the ground up at an aerospace and defense company with 201-500 employees. You would lead the move from legacy estimates to a fully burdened cost model and standard costing across every subsidiary, and report directly to the Corporate Controller.

What you'll do

• Design and implement a "Fully Burdened Cost per Product" model for each entity, including how direct and indirect labor and manufacturing overhead are allocated, so leadership sees true gross margin.
• Roll out a uniform standard costing approach across all subsidiaries, including standardized labor and overhead (burden) rates and consistent use of BOMs and routings.
• Establish auditable opening inventory balances and cost of sales from day one.
• Create formal policies for E&O reserves and standard-to-actual variance analysis, along with the related month-end controls.
• Build a "vitals" dashboard for the GMs and the CFO that breaks out price, efficiency and volume variances to explain margin movement.

What they're looking for

• 7+ years of progressive experience, with at least 3 years in manufacturing cost accounting.
• Expert-level knowledge of ASC 330 (Inventory) and the ability to build complex allocation models from scratch.
• Proven experience configuring ERP cost modules to automate burden application.
• Comfort working with large data sets to find the true cost of a product.
• CPA preferred; Big 4 public accounting experience strongly preferred.
• A plus: aerospace or defense experience, ERP implementation experience, and strong AI tool skills.

This role is on-site in El Segundo, CA. Senior Managers ready to step up to Director are also welcome to apply. If this sounds like you, apply below or reach out to us for a confidential conversation.