Kinder's Premium Quality Seasonings & Sauces · 7 hours ago
Cost Accounting Manager
Walnut Creek, CA
Full-time
Hybrid
Mid, Senior Level
$120K/yr - $133K/yr
5+ years expKinder's is a rapidly growing company known for its flavorful products and entrepreneurial spirit. They are seeking a Cost Accounting Manager to oversee the end-to-end costing process for co-manufactured products, ensuring financial accuracy and operational decision-making through strong analytical skills and collaboration across departments.
Food and BeverageFood ProcessingManufacturingRestaurants
Responsibilities
Own the end-to-end standard costing process for all co-manufactured SKUs, including methodology, assumptions, and update cadence
Build, review, and approve standard costs using BOMs and recipes, incorporating raw and packaging inputs, co-manufacturer tolling and processing fees, inbound freight, warehousing, and logistics costs
Establish and maintain costing governance, including documentation standards, change logs, and approval workflows
Partner closely with Procurement, Operations, and internal and external Co-Man teams to align on cost inputs, validate assumptions, and ensure timely updates as specifications and inputs evolve
Own cost accuracy and valuation support for inventory held at Kinder’s 3PL warehouses, ensuring consistent costing treatment and strong financial controls
Partner with inventory managers to validate costing-related inventory positions and ensure audit-ready support packages
Lead cost-related support for internal and external inventory audits, including issue resolution and coordination of required documentation
Lead product-level variance analysis, including material usage variances, co-manufacturer performance variances, and key driver diagnostics
Provide accurate and decision-ready product costing insights to support pricing, customer strategy, and promotional investment decisions
Partner with FP&A to support gross margin analysis by customer and channel, including drivers, risks, and forward-looking cost implications
Own costing inputs into COGS budgeting and forecasting processes, ensuring assumptions are accurate, explainable, and aligned with operational realities
Monitor cost trends across materials, co-manufacturing, and logistics, proactively identifying margin risks and recommending mitigation actions
Support scenario modeling and cost sensitivity analysis to inform decision-making when inputs are incomplete or changing
Serve as the finance business partner for co-manufacturing cost performance, providing visibility into cost drivers, trends, and operational impacts
Collaborate with internal Co-Man teams to validate production cost assumptions, performance metrics, and continuous improvement opportunities
Communicate cost changes clearly and proactively, ensuring stakeholders understand business impact and tradeoffs
Own the review and audit of co-manufacturer invoices for contractual compliance, accuracy, and pass-through cost reasonableness
Lead investigations into discrepancies, drive root cause resolution, and escalate recurring issues through internal and external stakeholder channels
Maintain a structured approach to tracking issues, recovering value where applicable, and reducing repeat exceptions
Own month-end costing-related close deliverables, including journal entries, reconciliations, and variance explanations for COGS and inventory
Review supporting schedules and workpapers to ensure completeness, accuracy, and audit readiness
Provide cost and margin reporting to finance leadership, including clear narratives on drivers and changes
Own costing structures and master data integrity within SAP, including product costing setup and ongoing maintenance standards
Identify and implement opportunities to improve SAP costing workflows, strengthen controls, and automate recurring reporting where feasible
Partner cross-functionally to improve data accuracy upstream (inputs) and reliability downstream (reporting and decision support)
Act as a cross-functional leader to align Finance, Procurement, Operations, Sales Ops, and external co-mans on costing assumptions and outcomes
Drive clarity, accountability, and decision support across stakeholders, particularly in fast-moving environments with evolving inputs
Build scalable processes that improve cost visibility and support Kinder’s growth
Qualification
Required
Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field
5–8+ years of experience in cost accounting, ideally in a CPG or food production environment
Proven ability to operate independently while building relationships across departments
Demonstrated success in scaling or improving cost accounting practices in a growth company
Preferred
CPA or CMA preferred
Experience working with co-manufacturers and auditing cost structures or contractual pass-throughs preferred
Proficiency in SAP (product costing, BOMs, inventory transactions)
Benefits
Paid time off
401k
Bonus / incentive eligibility
Equity grants
Competitive health benefits
Other family-friendly benefits, including parental leave
Company
Kinder's Premium Quality Seasonings & Sauces
Kinder's Premium Quality Seasonings & Sauces produces sauces, seasoning, rub, and marinates.
51-200 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Growth StageLeadership Team
Jim H.
Co-CEO & Chief Brand Officer, Director
Joe Rainero
CEO
Company data provided by crunchbase