Costing Engineer

Peter Millar•Durham, NC

About The Position

The Costing Engineer is a key technical and commercial partner responsible for driving product costing strategy and execution across Apparel, Footwear, and Accessories. This role serves as the organization’s central cost authority, combining deep costing expertise with hands-on analysis, modeling, and vendor collaboration to protect margin, inform pricing decisions, and enable commercially viable product development. This individual will build and maintain advanced cost models, analyze BOMs and material yields, and partner closely with Merchandising, Design, Product Development, Sourcing, Supply Chain, and Finance to ensure costing accuracy and alignment from concept through production. The role requires a balance of technical rigor, financial acumen, and cross-functional influence, with a strong emphasis on data-driven decision-making and operational execution. While not a people management role, this position carries significant leadership responsibility through expertise and influence, acting as the go-to resource for costing across the organization and helping shape margin outcomes and supplier strategy.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Finance, Supply Chain, Textile/Fashion, or related field (or equivalent experience).
7+ years of experience in apparel, footwear, or accessories costing, sourcing, product development, or technical design, with direct exposure to vendor or factory environments.
Deep understanding of BOM structure, fabric costing, garment construction, yields, and landed cost components (freight, duty, tariffs, COO).
Proven ability to develop and execute cost strategies that drive margin improvement without compromising product quality or brand standards.
Advanced Excel and financial modeling expertise, including scenario analysis, forecasting, and cost benchmarking.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate data into actionable business recommendations.
Effective communicator with the ability to influence cross-functional partners and senior stakeholders through clarity, insight, and commercial reasoning.
Experience with PLM systems (Centric a plus).
Demonstrated ability to work independently in a fast-paced, seasonal product environment with multiple priorities.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity leveraging AI tools to improve efficiency and decision-making preferred

Responsibilities

Lead margin and IMU strategy across Apparel, Footwear, and Accessories, developing scenario-based cost models (fabric, construction, MOQ, COO, vendor changes) to evaluate profitability and risk.
Serve as the organization’s central cost authority, partnering with Merchandising and Finance on pricing architecture, margin trade-offs, forecasting, and long-range planning.
Identify cost drivers early in the development process and proactively mitigate margin risk while ensuring alignment with brand standards and product integrity.
Own style-level costing from concept through bulk production, ensuring costs align with target margins at every stage of the product lifecycle.
Build and maintain detailed cost models covering materials, trims, labor, construction, overhead, freight, duty, tariffs, and COO.
Analyze BOMs, material yields, and construction methods to identify simplification, efficiency, and value-engineering opportunities without compromising quality or aesthetics.
Track estimated vs. actual costs, analyze variances, and identify root causes to drive continuous improvement in cost accuracy and execution.
Lead pre-costing analysis and support bulk negotiations using data-driven insights, ensuring vendor cost breakdowns are accurate, comparable, and transparent.
Audit and validate vendor costing structures to ensure integrity and alignment with internal cost standards.
Standardize cost templates and methodologies to enable consistency across vendors, categories, and regions.
Partner directly with factories and mills to validate costing assumptions, resolve discrepancies, and strengthen supplier relationships.
Travel as needed to support development, resolve cost issues, and maintain alignment across the supply base.
Ensure alignment between PLM systems, negotiated costs, and financial reporting, maintaining consistent and accurate costing data across platforms.
Develop advanced Excel-based models and dashboards to provide leadership with visibility into margin performance, risks, and opportunities.
Establish and maintain costing SOPs and governance processes to ensure consistency, accuracy, and scalability.
Continuously improve costing tools, templates, and workflows to increase efficiency and enhance decision-making.
Act as the go-to cost expert across Sourcing, Merchandising, Design, Development, Supply Chain, and Finance.
Influence senior stakeholders through data-backed recommendations, clear communication of trade-offs, and strong commercial acumen.
Support seasonal development cycles, product presentations, and go-to-market readiness from a costing perspective.
Model professionalism, collaboration, and a continuous improvement mindset, driving alignment across teams.