Job Title: Financial Planning Analyst - Cost Accountant Location: Drogheda, Co. Louth (onsite with hybrid option) About the Company: Our client is a leading FMCG manufacturer producing high-quality chilled convenience foods for major supermarket retailers. With a strong focus on innovation and quality, they operate from a state-of-the-art facility, delivering products fresh each day from farm to fork. Role Overview: The Financial Planning Analyst - Cost Accountant will partner with senior leadership to deliver robust financial insights, costings, and gross margin analysis. The successful candidate will play a key role in driving efficiencies, supporting decision-making, and identifying continuous improvement initiatives across manufacturing operations. Key Responsibilities: Partner with the Managing Director, Finance Director, and senior leaders to provide day-to-day operational support. Deliver robust financial analysis to support capital investment, cost saving, and innovation initiatives. Analyse and report on plant performance, efficiency, and KPIs. Develop and implement line and product efficiency models. Full ownership of product costings, including Bill of Materials by SKU. Manage and report on gross margin analysis by SKU, reconciling P&L and commercial performance. Create and manage a costing tool for new product launches. Provide weekly and monthly gross margin reports with recommendations. Maintain weekly price files, process costings, promotional costings, CAPEX project costings, and labour/overhead analysis. Support management with ad hoc project work and cost saving initiatives. Review and implement systems and reporting improvements. Key Requirements: Essential Minimum 3 years' relevant experience in cost accounting or FP&A within a manufacturing environment. Strong financial analysis skills, including variance analysis, forecasting, and modelling. Experience implementing new systems and software to drive improvements. Knowledge of lean manufacturing principles. Advanced Excel skills, including v-lookups, pivot tables, charting, and database functions. Strong attention to detail, problem-solving, and communication skills. Ability to work collaboratively and manage time effectively. Desirable Experience in FMCG or food production. Proficiency with data analysis tools (Power BI, Tableau, Qlik, SQL, OLAP). Third-level qualification in Accounting & Finance or Food Science. Experience in software implementation and report automation. If you ahve the skills required for the role - please apply with your most recent CV to Bernadette Sisson for immediate consieration. Skills: finance cost accounting margin analysis product costing manufacturing financial analysis reporting Benefits: Work From Home