Costing Manager

Yanfeng•MI, MI

4h•Hybrid

About The Position

Yanfeng is seeking a Costing Manager to lead the collection, validation, and integration of business case inputs into quote proposals. This role involves ensuring product Bill of Materials (BOM) completeness, understanding make-versus-buy considerations, and evaluating manufacturing quote assumptions. The Costing Manager will develop and apply knowledge of overhead costing methodologies and production capabilities across the company's plant network. This position requires constructive challenging of cross-functional assumptions to support cost-effective production solutions and ensuring key business case parameters are accurately reflected in forecasts. The role involves clear communication of key business considerations, risks, opportunities, and profitability assumptions within completed business cases, and providing a comprehensive handoff to internal teams. Additionally, the Costing Manager will develop and apply understanding of key KPI assumptions, identify and communicate concerns or risks within business cases, and support non-quoting initiatives, plant cost reviews, structural change reviews, annual overhead rate updates, and economic factor estimations. The role also supports Phase 2-5 SDT teams, commodity cost models, large-volume data analysis, and projects strengthening internal competitive intelligence. The Costing Manager will identify and support material cost-reduction opportunities. The position has a 20% travel expectation to respective Yanfeng locations.

Requirements

Manufacturing finance background and experience preferred, with the ability to understand the development of business cases, including P&L, Capex, margins, ROS, and IRR.
A comprehensive understanding of overhead rates and how our organization monitors and assesses various financial KPIs.
Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with stakeholders across multiple functions and backgrounds.
Ability to summarize complex information and communicate key points clearly, professionally, and accurately to internal stakeholders.
Strong business acumen, with the ability to prioritize topics based on potential material impact.
Minimum of five years of relevant professional work experience.
Minimum of three years of experience in the automotive manufacturing industry.
Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Engineering, or Business.
Strong technical skills, including advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel.
Demonstrated ability to communicate technical information to nontechnical audiences.
Ability to sort and manipulate large amounts of data.
High aptitude for problem-solving, succinct summaries, and communicating critical points to a large cross-functional audience.
Proven interpersonal, communication, and teamwork skills.
Demonstrated motivation to expand professional capabilities and contribute to process and profitability improvements.
Must possess highly effective analytical skills in areas of accounting and finance, critical thinking, analysis, and communication.
Must be able to flex priorities on a regular basis and work effectively under timing pressure.
Fluent verbal and written communication skills in English.
In-depth understanding of financial terminology and the ability to translate this into business case and quote communications.
Understand, apply and meet all function-related IOS requirements.
Understand, apply and meet all function-related EHS requirements.
Understand, apply and meet all function-related Product Safety requirements.
Understand, apply and meet all function-related Compliance requirements.
Understand, apply and meet all function-related IT / Information Security and confidentiality of YFAI information requirements.
Must comply with all company policies and procedures.
Employee must have the ability to work additional hours and / or overtime as needed or assigned to complete job duties on time.

Nice To Haves

Database experience preferred, but not required.
Spanish language skills preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead the collection, validation, and integration of relevant cross-functional business case inputs into quote proposals.
Ensure the product Bill of Materials (BOM) is complete, logical, and supported by appropriate cost assumptions.
Develop and apply an understanding of make-versus-buy considerations, including the ability to articulate the purchased-part strategy.
Evaluate manufacturing quote assumptions and their relationship to key cost drivers, including machine cycle time, labor, indirect costs, scrap, equipment, and tooling.
Communicate effectively with stakeholders regarding input assumptions, overall reasonableness, and competitiveness of resulting quotes.
Develop and apply knowledge of overhead costing methodologies within business cases, including machine overhead rates, variable and fixed costs, and labor costs.
Understand and apply knowledge of production capabilities across the company’s manufacturing plant network.
Constructively challenge cross-functional assumptions to support the development of cost-effective production solutions.
Ensure key business case parameters are accurately reflected in the forecast, including program volumes, production timing, full value-stream impact, freight, and delivery implications.
Clearly communicate key business considerations, risks, opportunities, and profitability assumptions within completed business cases.
Provide a comprehensive handoff upon quote completion to internal Phase 2-5 SDT teams.
Develop and apply an understanding of key KPI assumptions, including the ability to identify and communicate concerns or risks within business cases.
Support non-quoting initiatives as required.
Perform plant cost reviews, support cross-functional alignment, and identify internal cost-improvement opportunities.
Conduct plant-specific reviews of structural changes and opportunities to enhance organizational competitiveness.
Support annual overhead rate updates. Plant-specific collaboration will be assigned on an as-needed basis, including iterative rate-study updates and overlays.
Coordinate and estimate economic factors to be considered in new quote development.
Support Phase 2-5 SDT teams on assigned programs to ensure a complete feedback loop for potential adjustments.
Support the design, development, and application of commodity cost models.
Perform large-volume data analysis and summarization, including reviewing, assessing, and synthesizing data from multiple systems.
Support projects that strengthen internal competitive intelligence related to supplier expectations and assess identified gaps between YF, suppliers, and other Tier 2 suppliers.
Identify and support material cost-reduction opportunities to improve organizational profitability.