Sr. Mgr, Global Cost & Operations Accounting

COLE-PARMER INSTRUMENT COMPANY•Vernon Hills, IL

7d•$150,000 - $175,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Manager, Global Cost & Operations Accounting will lead the development, implementation, and ongoing governance of standardized operations accounting practices across a diverse, global manufacturing network. This role owns standard costing methodology, inventory valuation and reserves, and the monthly variance capitalization and standard cost roll process (“Cap & Roll”), and is responsible for driving consistency in cost accounting, variance analysis, and inventory reporting across multiple entities, ERP systems, and production environments. In addition, this role will design and implement standardized inventory reporting and controls to improve transparency, strengthen the internal control environment, and support disciplined working capital management. The position also supports operations leadership on capital expenditures, ensuring alignment with corporate policies and processes from project approval through asset capitalization. The position partners closely with supply chain, site leadership, corporate accounting, and FP&A segment analysts to ensure cost accuracy, valuation integrity, and audit readiness. The ideal candidate is an experienced operations accountant who combines deep technical expertise in standard costing and inventory accounting with a systems mindset and the ability to drive alignment across international manufacturing operations.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Accounting.
8+ years of progressive cost and operations accounting experience in a manufacturing environment, including multi-site or global scope.
Demonstrated experience leading standardization, integration, or process harmonization efforts across sites or ERP systems.
Deep understanding of standard costing, inventory accounting, absorption costing, and manufacturing variance analysis.
Hands-on experience with month-end close, inventory subledger reconciliation, and reserve calculations.
Experience running or supporting monthly cost capitalization and periodic standard cost roll (Cap & Roll) in a multi-site, multi-ERP environment.
Working knowledge of fixed asset accounting and capital project treatment under U.S. GAAP.
Strong working knowledge of manufacturing cost drivers, bills of materials, and routings.
Experience developing standardized reporting; advanced Excel and strong data skills, with Power BI experience preferred.
Ability to influence and align cross-functional global teams and lead through relationships.
Strong communication skills across operational and executive audiences.
Process-oriented with a continuous improvement mindset.

Nice To Haves

CPA, CGMA, or CMA a plus, but not required with relevant experience.

Responsibilities

Develop and implement global standard costing policies and methodologies across all manufacturing sites.
Establish consistent standards for material, labor, and overhead cost structure, rates, and allocation.
Own the Cap & Roll process — capitalization of variances and roll of new standard costs across all sites and ERP systems — including timeline, methodology, cross-site coordination, and analysis of P&L and balance sheet impacts.
Standardize variance analysis frameworks and reporting formats globally.
Harmonize cost accounting practices across ERP systems and manufacturing environments.
Ensure compliance with U.S. GAAP and applicable international accounting standards.
Own month-end inventory valuation and subledger-to-general-ledger reconciliation across all sites.
Own global inventory reserve methodology (excess, obsolete, slow-moving, and lower of cost or net realizable value) — policy, calculation consistency across sites, quarterly governance reviews, and audit support.
Develop and implement standardized global inventory reporting packages, including inventory turns, days inventory on hand (DIOH), excess and obsolete analysis, and aging by SKU and site.
Standardize cycle count and physical inventory processes and controls across sites.
Strengthen internal controls around inventory transactions, adjustments, and system access.
Ensure consistent bill of materials (BOM) and routing governance processes.
Improve visibility into raw materials, work in process (WIP), and finished goods balances in partnership with supply chain and operations.
Support audit readiness and documentation standards globally.
Implement standardized monthly variance reporting (purchase price variance, material usage, labor efficiency, and overhead absorption).
Ensure root-cause analysis and corrective action tracking across sites.
Partner with segment and plant leadership to account for scrap, yield, and production efficiency.
Maintain accurate product cost structures that serve as the system of record for margin and pricing analysis performed by FP&A and commercial teams.
Support operations leadership through the capital expenditure request (CER) process, including financial review and compliance with the Global CapEx Policy and approval authority matrix.
Guide proper capitalization versus expense treatment for operations projects under U.S. GAAP.
Coordinate with operations and corporate finance on project-to-asset conversion at go-live, including asset componentization, in-service dates, and depreciation commencement.
Advise operations leadership on CapEx budgeting to drive improved alignment on CapEx, OpEx, and one-time EBITDA add-back projects.
Partner with IT and finance teams to improve ERP cost modules, inventory subledgers, and reporting tools across multiple ERP platforms.
Serve as an active member of the team developing and implementing a data lake across all entities for better analysis and visibility.
Standardize cost and inventory data governance across systems.
Implement automated reporting solutions to reduce manual analysis.
Drive integration of acquired entities into standardized cost, inventory, and fixed asset frameworks.