Cost Specialist

Position Purpose The Cost Specialist for Bar Soaps is the key financial steward of the focus factory and is a strategic partner to provide financial guidance and direction to the operations team to ensure the long‑term success of the focus factory and its operations. Key Responsibilities Financial Management: Cost Specialist is responsible for the management of the focus factory spending and ensuring that key budget targets (Cost per Case, Cost per Ton) are being delivered. Key attention to headcount, labor costs, utility costs, maintenance spending, and fixed conversion costs. Responsible for the Standard Cost calculations and review for the focus factory and managing the process to ensure a timely submission of costs and intercompany prices for both materials and finished goods. Imperative to collaborate with Global CBS, ensuring that master data is accurate and reviewing rate routings and providing all the explanations needed for significant changes to the cost. Responsible for the month‑end financial closing and collaborating with Colgate Business Services (CBS) to achieve timely on‑time activities and maintain the financial integrity and accuracy of the data. Balance Sheet reconciliation of prepaid and accrual accounts, as well as GR / IR unvouchered accounts, and monthly review of capital spending (MWIP account) to insure projects are on time and within budget. Tracking and management of Fixed Assets movements as well as the physical counts and follow up all the capitalization process for the CEB projects related to the plant, and tracking of savings when implemented. Idle asset analysis and depreciation simulations. Financial Statement Impact: Analyze plant performance reports and financial statements and monitors key business drivers to communicate timely insights. Responsible for effectiveness of internal controls related to inventory management. Ensure the focus factory is efficiently utilizing working capital: physical counts, DOC tracking, review of SLOB materials, and communicating risks and opportunities. Recommends possible solutions to address financial issues based on knowledge of the business. Financial analysis & Business insight: communication of monthly results to the Plant Controller and providing a summary of the key events, with action plans to close performance gaps and risks to the P&L. The Cost Specialist is the key partner for the operations team to help them prepare for the monthly production performance reviews (PPR’s). Providing monthly analysis of the manufacturing variances for the focus factory and quarterly estimates of production volume and manufacturing estimates, with focus on the risks and opportunities. Collaboration with procurement to understand Purchase Price Variances and identify issues with material prices and influences of exchange rate fluctuations with the period. Absolute Material Loss reporting each month and the identification of opportunities to reduce scrap and material loss in the focus factory. Also, look for opportunities to employ best practices in the Colgate supply chain that are applicable to the focus factory. Responsible for performance of the annual conversion cost budget (Cost of Sales) and the Mid‑Year Reviews. These tasks are critical and require the leadership and guidance of the Cost Specialist to ensure that costs are properly stated for the next year. Validation and review of FTG projects and ensuring the integrity of the FTG database for the focus factory. Reviewing and validating CEB savings for MWO's: volume, cost, profit, etc. Collaborating with engineering, operations, and commercial teams to ensure alignment of key project assumptions. Special projects and participation on Colgate taskforce. Business Perspective & Partnering: Alignment and constant communication with the Budget & Planning team – cost of goods sold, volume validation, SLOB risks, and new product launches. Educates cross‑functional partners on key financial concepts. Education / Experience Bachelor degree in Engineering, Accounting, Finance and Business. 5 years of experience in finance, Budget & Planning, Costs or Accounting. English (advanced level). Expected Areas of Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Excellent skills in SAP or equivalent ERP system. Accounting and Financial Expertise. Advance knowledge of Excel and google suite (Google Sheets and Slides). Excellent Financial Analysis skills. Leadership Competencies: Analysis / Decision Making, Effective Execution, Planning / Priority setting. #J-18808-Ljbffr