Production Accountant | East Kent | Up to £60K
We are partnering exclusively with our client, a well-established and growing international manufacturing business, to recruit a Production Accountant. This role will sit within a smaller but highly impactful finance team and offers excellent exposure to operations, senior stakeholders, and corporate reporting as the business continues to scale.
This is a commercially focused production accounting role, supporting manufacturing performance through robust cost control, inventory management, and financial insight.
Key Responsibilities
*Own and deliver accurate, timely production cost reporting with meaningful variance analysis and supporting commentary.
*Responsible for the preparation, maintenance, and annual review of standard costing and absorption models.
*Work closely with Operations to ensure production hours, labour efficiency, and overhead absorption rates are realistic and compliant with group finance policies.
*Monitor and analyse manufacturing variances including price, usage, efficiency, and under/over-absorption, making recommendations where appropriate.
*Manage inventory accounting, ensuring raw materials, WIP and finished goods are accurately valued and reconciled to the general ledger.
*Lead and support physical stock reconciliation processes, investigating and resolving discrepancies.
*Manage E&O and other inventory provisions, including quarterly reviews and supporting evidence.
*Partner with Purchasing to review standard material costs, last price paid, and supplier cost changes, assessing margin and inventory impact.
*Support the annual budget and ongoing forecast processes across production, inventory and operational costs.
*Prepare monthly analysis of production performance, margin movements, and operational KPIs.
*Provide financial insight to non-finance stakeholders to support commercially sound decision-making.
*Assist with year-end processes, audits, and ad-hoc finance projects as required.
*Carry out such other duties that may be reasonably requested.
The Ideal Candidate
*Part-qualified or qualified accountant (CIMA, ACCA, ACA or equivalent).
*Experience working closely with operations and supply chain teams.
*Confident communicator, able to explain financial information to non-finance managers.
*Strong Excel skills – intermediate to advanced (pivot tables, lookups, data analysis).
*Highly organised with the ability to manage multiple deadlines.
*Strong attention to detail with a solutions-focused mindset.