Finance Analyst - Capex & Material Cost, Ford Energy

Ford Energy is a newly formed, wholly-owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company dedicated to accelerating U.S. energy independence. Leveraging Ford's century of manufacturing excellence and world-class battery energy storage systems (BESS) technology, Ford Energy designs, manufactures, and services grid-scale and commercial DC battery energy storage systems (BESS). Ford Energy is uniquely positioned to capture the growing demand for reliable, US-built energy storage systems. We are not just building batteries; we are building the infrastructure for the next generation of the American grid.

Why Ford Energy?

At Ford Energy, you have the backing of an industrial manufacturing powerhouse with the agility of a dedicated energy startup offering industry leading technology. We offer a competitive compensation package including performance-based bonuses, Ford vehicle discounts, and the opportunity to shape the energy strategy of one of the world's most iconic brands.

In this position...

Ford Energy will be launching a BESS business in 2027 in Glendale, Kentucky. The Financial Analyst will be an integral part of the team to build financial processes and partner with the operating team. We are seeking an impact-driven Financial Analyst to spearhead financial strategy, capital allocation, and material cost optimization for our manufacturing plant. In this pivotal role, you will be a financial architect overseeing our plant's two largest financial levers: Capital Expenditures (CapEx) and Material Costs. You will actively partner with Engineering, Procurement, and Plant Leadership to evaluate high-impact capital investments, optimize raw material spend, and identify margin expansion opportunities. This position offers a unique platform to lead high-visibility financial initiatives, challenge operational assumptions, and directly shape the strategic direction and modernization of our advanced manufacturing facility. A successful candidate will be one whom acts as a change agent and is able to leverage technology to build a modern cost operating system. This opportunity will be located at the Glendale, Kentucky facility. Periodic travel will be required.

We made history and now we work to transform the future - for our customers, our communities and our families. You'll see your work on the road every day, helping people move freely and pursue their dreams. At Ford, you can build more than vehicles. Come build what matters.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Cost Leadership & Financial Modeling

• Budgeting & Target Setting: Provide end-to-end support for operational budgets and forecasts, deploying targets directly to operational departments and establishing efficient targets on specific income statement line items.
• Cost Roadmaps & Benchmarking: Develop, execute, and oversee comprehensive cost-reduction roadmaps alongside operating teams. Complete benchmarking studies and detailed business case analyses to uncover optimal cost-saving opportunities.
• Operational Cost Partnership & Education: Serve as a key financial interface for the operating team to proactively troubleshoot and resolve daily cost challenges, while actively training and educating both hourly and salaried team members on the plant's Cost Operating System to foster a shared culture of financial awareness and accountability.
• Operational Modernization: Partner with operations and engineering to discover, evaluate, and implement modern technologies and automated systems.
• Internal Controls & Compliance: Support ongoing accounting and internal control efforts as required, ensuring strict financial integrity and adherence to reporting standards.

CapEx & Capital Investment Analysis

• Capital Project Modeling: Build and maintain dynamic financial models to evaluate capital investments (CapEx) and track commitments and spending against targets and business thresholds.
• Business Case Development: Partner with engineering to draft robust business cases for plant retooling and investment initiatives.
• CapEx Budgeting & Forecasting: maintain the end-to-end CapEx budget and forecast, tracking actual spend against project milestones.

Material Cost, BOM & Variance Analysis

• Bill of Materials (BOM) Integrity: Partner with operations and engineering to audit BOM accuracy, identify discrepancies and cost opportunities, and ensure production costing reflects physical reality.
• Scrap & Waste Optimization: Track scrap rates and material waste, translating physical loss into financial impact and partnering with quality teams on cost-reduction roadmaps.
• Procurement & Commodity Tracking: Collaborate with purchasing to model the financial impact of commodity price fluctuations, supplier changes, and "should-cost" assessments for raw materials.
• Material Variance Auditing: Analyze and report material variances to operations and plant leadership.

Operational Partnering & Cost Systems

• Cross-Functional Roadmaps: Develop and oversee material and capital cost-reduction roadmaps alongside the operating and engineering teams to deliver annual targets.
• Cost Operating System: Actively teach the plant's "Cost Operating System" to both hourly and salaried team members, specifically focusing on yield, scrap, and utilization metrics.
• System Transition Support: Validate financial data and adapt material costing and CapEx tracking models to ensure seamless transitions during new business system implementations.

Key Capabilities:

• Strong command of capital budgeting principles (NPV, depreciation, cash flow forecasting, etc.) and inventory/material costing methods (standard costing and BOM structures).
• Technical Translation: Outstanding communication skills, with a proven ability to translate complex financial concepts (like capital depreciation or price variances) into clear, actionable business recommendations for engineers, procurement teams, and plant managers.
• Influential Presenter: Strong presentation skills with the confidence to pitch large-scale CapEx business cases, ROI assessments, and cost-benefit analyses to plant leadership and corporate stakeholders. Proficiency with PowerPoint is required.
• Collaborative Educator: A natural team player with a proactive, "on-the-floor" attitude willing to spend time with operators and engineers to understand the physical processes driving material waste and equipment downtime.
• Adaptable Self-Starter: Exceptional organizational and project management skills; ability to independently manage concurrent CapEx and material projects in a fast-paced environment.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Cost Leadership & Financial Modeling

• Budgeting & Target Setting: Provide end-to-end support for operational budgets and forecasts, deploying targets directly to operational departments and establishing efficient targets on specific income statement line items.
• Cost Roadmaps & Benchmarking: Develop, execute, and oversee comprehensive cost-reduction roadmaps alongside operating teams. Complete benchmarking studies and detailed business case analyses to uncover optimal cost-saving opportunities.
• Operational Cost Partnership & Education: Serve as a key financial interface for the operating team to proactively troubleshoot and resolve daily cost challenges, while actively training and educating both hourly and salaried team members on the plant's Cost Operating System to foster a shared culture of financial awareness and accountability.
• Operational Modernization: Partner with operations and engineering to discover, evaluate, and implement modern technologies and automated systems.
• Internal Controls & Compliance: Support ongoing accounting and internal control efforts as required, ensuring strict financial integrity and adherence to reporting standards.

CapEx & Capital Investment Analysis

• Capital Project Modeling: Build and maintain dynamic financial models to evaluate capital investments (CapEx) and track commitments and spending against targets and business thresholds.
• Business Case Development: Partner with engineering to draft robust business cases for plant retooling and investment initiatives.
• CapEx Budgeting & Forecasting: maintain the end-to-end CapEx budget and forecast, tracking actual spend against project milestones.

Material Cost, BOM & Variance Analysis

• Bill of Materials (BOM) Integrity: Partner with operations and engineering to audit BOM accuracy, identify discrepancies and cost opportunities, and ensure production costing reflects physical reality.
• Scrap & Waste Optimization: Track scrap rates and material waste, translating physical loss into financial impact and partnering with quality teams on cost-reduction roadmaps.
• Procurement & Commodity Tracking: Collaborate with purchasing to model the financial impact of commodity price fluctuations, supplier changes, and "should-cost" assessments for raw materials.
• Material Variance Auditing: Analyze and report material variances to operations and plant leadership.

Operational Partnering & Cost Systems

• Cross-Functional Roadmaps: Develop and oversee material and capital cost-reduction roadmaps alongside the operating and engineering teams to deliver annual targets.
• Cost Operating System: Actively teach the plant's "Cost Operating System" to both hourly and salaried team members, specifically focusing on yield, scrap, and utilization metrics.
• System Transition Support: Validate financial data and adapt material costing and CapEx tracking models to ensure seamless transitions during new business system implementations.

Key Capabilities:

• Strong command of capital budgeting principles (NPV, depreciation, cash flow forecasting, etc.) and inventory/material costing methods (standard costing and BOM structures).
• Technical Translation: Outstanding communication skills, with a proven ability to translate complex financial concepts (like capital depreciation or price variances) into clear, actionable business recommendations for engineers, procurement teams, and plant managers.
• Influential Presenter: Strong presentation skills with the confidence to pitch large-scale CapEx business cases, ROI assessments, and cost-benefit analyses to plant leadership and corporate stakeholders. Proficiency with PowerPoint is required.
• Collaborative Educator: A natural team player with a proactive, "on-the-floor" attitude willing to spend time with operators and engineers to understand the physical processes driving material waste and equipment downtime.
• Adaptable Self-Starter: Exceptional organizational and project management skills; ability to independently manage concurrent CapEx and material projects in a fast-paced environment.