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Northwood Space is a modern space infrastructure company building a global network of phased array ground stations for satellite communications supporting national security, global connectivity, and disaster response. As the first Cost Accountant, you will build and own the cost accounting function as the company scales from development into production.
You will establish processes, methodologies, and controls that provide accurate visibility into inventory, cost of goods sold (COGS), and the true cost of building hardware. Working closely with Finance, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Engineering, and Program teams, you will create a scalable cost accounting foundation supporting rapid growth and increasingly complex manufacturing operations.
Key responsibilities include:
- Building and owning the company's cost accounting function, establishing scalable processes, methodologies, controls, documentation, and reporting for inventory, standard costs, work-in-progress (WIP), COGS, and manufacturing variances as production scales
- Owning cost accounting activities across month-end and quarter-end close, including journal entries, inventory and cost account reconciliations, accruals, variance analysis, and supporting schedules
- Developing and maintaining standard costing methodologies across purchased and manufactured hardware; analyzing purchase price, material, labor, overhead, absorption, scrap, and other variances
- Owning inventory accounting and valuation across raw materials, WIP, and finished goods, partnering with Supply Chain and Manufacturing to reconcile operational activity to the ERP
- Partnering with Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Engineering, and Program teams to understand bills of materials (BOMs), production flows, procurement costs, and engineering changes
- Serving as the Finance owner for cost accounting systems and continuous improvement, helping define ERP requirements, automate manual processes, and strengthen financial controls
Requirements:
- Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field with 4+ years of experience in cost accounting, inventory accounting, or manufacturing accounting
- Strong understanding of manufacturing cost accounting, including standard costing, inventory valuation, WIP, COGS, purchase price variance (PPV), absorption, manufacturing variances, and inventory flows within an ERP environment
- Demonstrated ability to independently own cost accounting close activities, journal entries, reconciliations, and complex analyses while identifying and resolving discrepancies
- Highly analytical with ability to operate autonomously in a fast-paced environment; strong Excel skills and demonstrated ability to build processes and solve ambiguous problems
Preferred qualifications include experience in aerospace, defense, hardware, automotive, or electronics manufacturing (especially in startups or rapidly scaling organizations); experience building or improving cost accounting processes and controls as manufacturing scales; experience partnering with operational teams to translate manufacturing activity into financial insights; and experience implementing or improving cost accounting workflows within an ERP system.
Note: Must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, protected individual, or eligible to obtain required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State due to ITAR compliance requirements.
