Cost Analyst

Company description

Are you ready to join an international company that is focused on creating sustainable products for foodservice and airline industries?

Probably at some point in your life you traveled on the plane & ordered some food or went to your nearby takeout place to buy a salad for lunch. In this case, you might have seen deSter products and didn’t even know it. A lot of people don’t realize that packaging world can be exciting, but it is more than that, especially when it comes to food. deSter is unique in its industry because we design and manufacture packaging as well as some additional complimentary products such as amenity kits, airplane trolleys & condiment packs. Our purpose is to create sustainable food and travel experiences and we need you on this journey.

If you want to be a part of a company that strives to create a better future and change how we look at food packaging, you are in the right place.

Job description

Product costing is at the basis of our commercial and business decisions. The Cost Analyst will play an important role in this area, both in the pre-calculation process (providing accurate cost estimates) as well as on final costing and monitoring of all relevant cost drivers. The focus will be on the costing of our Belgian, Spanish and US production sites, while overlooking relevant cost developments globally.

Main responsibilities

Drive and optimize the pre-calculation process for in-house manufactured products:

• Collect and analyze all required data needed to run cost price calculation;
• Maintain and update the existing calculation models to reflect the latest cost parameters and drivers, to ensure accurate results;
• Define and set-up calculation models and methods for new sustainable developments, in close cooperation with relevant departments (product managers, R&D, engineering, manufacturing etc.);
• Review and benchmark the calculated costs coming from our different production plants, to guarantee proper decision-making process on final production location;
• Perform post-analysis to assess accuracy of the calculations and further improve the models and input;

Support the cost calculation and production set-up in our ERP system:

• Do regular cost updates in the system, following the creation of new products or changes applied to existing products;
• Validate the results of the cost updates against expectations, and reach out to the relevant department in case of variances (procurement, manufacturing etc.);
• Assist the Manufacturing Controller with quarterly and annual cost reviews and adjustments, or various analysis requirements;
• Update and maintain selected master data elements in the system that are related to the costing process;

Gather insights in the (price) evolution and driving factors of the different cost components (material, labor, energy etc.), in order to assess financial and/or operational impact and to ensure required actions are timely implemented;

Ad hoc data analysis and reporting depending on requests from the organization;

Requirements

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree (Finance, Economics or Industrial Engineering);
• 2-5 years of relevant experience in product costing and modelling, cost/financial analysis, or manufacturing controlling (preferably in an industrial environment);
• Strong analytical skillset, with solid understanding of cost structures and cost models, manufacturing processes and financial analysis;
• Ability to break-down problems into clear causes, and define proper measures and solutions;
• Proactive in finding process improvements;
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail;
• Strong interpersonal skills for cross-department collaboration (e.g., manufacturing, procurement, engineering) ;
• Proficient in MS Office 365 applications (Excel, Powerpoint) - knowledge of SAP and/or MS Dynamics / Power BI is an asset;

What we offer

Joining deSter means you will become a part of an innovative company with sustainability at heart and colleagues & customers globally. Besides competitive salary and benefits, we also offer hybrid way of working (office/remote) and a team of colleagues that have a passion & enthusiasm for what they do.