Sr. Cost Accountant

Walker Bowen Talent Partners

17h•Onsite

About The Position

Walker Bowen Talent Partners is proud to continue our partnership with a leading food manufacturer in Gardners, PA, in search of their next Sr. Cost Accountant. This is an on-site role; permanent position; candidates must be authorized to work in the US without current or future need of sponsorship. Our client is a grower-owned cooperative and one of the most trusted names in food manufacturing, known for its strong heritage, commitment to quality, and collaborative culture. With multiple facilities across Pennsylvania, they produce top-quality brands and private-label products with pride and precision. They maintain a tight-knit, servant-leadership-driven culture that values initiative, teamwork, and continuous improvement. If you’re a proven accounting leader who thrives on collaboration and transformation, this is your opportunity to make a significant impact. If you’re an experienced food manufacturing or CPG Cost Accountant with a passion for continuous improvement and hands-on collaboration, we’d love to hear from you. This is an ideal time to join our client’s accounting team and play a pivotal role in shaping the future of their accounting and finance practices. The Sr. Cost Accountant is responsible for managing and analyzing manufacturing costs for a fruit processing operation, including raw fruit procurement, processing, packaging, storage, and distribution.

Requirements

Strong manufacturing cost accounting and variance analysis utilizing modern practices
Deep understanding of standard costing and inventory valuation
Experience in CPG, process manufacturing or inventory-intensive environments
Ability to translate financial data for operations and plant leaders
Advanced Excel and manual reporting/BI skills
ERP experience required
Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance
5–7+ years of cost accounting experience in manufacturing utilizing modern practices - CPG industry highly preferred
Experience supporting plant operations and cross-functional teams
Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills
Detail-oriented with the ability to manage multiple priorities
Physical requirement: Ability to walk the plants regularly and go up and down stairs

Nice To Haves

CPA or CMA a plus (not required)
Prior experience overseeing a team (preferred, not required)
Prior production level manufacturing experience (preferred, not required)

Responsibilities

Own standard costing for raw materials, labor, overhead, packaging, and co-products
Perform monthly cost rollups and detailed variance analysis (yield, labor, overhead, PPV)
Analyze yields, shrink, spoilage, waste, and by-product credits
Partner with plant and operations leaders to explain cost drivers
Support pricing, margin, and profitability analysis by product and customer
Review daily and monthly production costs vs. budget
Support seasonal production planning and harvest-related forecasting
Provide financial analysis for capital projects and process improvements
Maintain cost data and reporting within the ERP system
Support month-end close, inventory accounting, audits, and internal controls