Senior Financial Analyst - Manufacturing

Arkansas Talent Group is proud to partner with a premier manufacturer with a cutting-edge production facility in Little Rock to identify a Senior Financial Analyst - Manufacturing.

Candidates must currently reside in the Central Arkansas area, as this hybrid position requires regular in-office collaboration.

This position serves as the primary finance partner for the plant, working closely with operations leadership to drive financial performance, analyze costs, support strategic decision-making, and improve operational results. The role offers significant visibility across the organization and the opportunity to grow into future finance leadership responsibilities as the facility continues to expand.

The ideal candidate enjoys understanding the story behind the numbers, thrives in a manufacturing environment, and is naturally curious, analytical, and driven to solve problems. This individual will partner with plant leadership to analyze financial performance, investigate variances, improve processes, and provide meaningful insights that support the business.

What you will do:

• Develop, maintain, and analyze standard costing models to ensure accurate product costing, cost allocation, and variance analysis.
• Generate daily, weekly, and monthly financial reports to monitor plant performance, operating costs, and key metrics against budgets and forecasts.
• Analyze budget-to-actual results and investigate cost and operational variances to identify root causes and recommend corrective actions.
• Partner closely with plant management, operations, quality, and department leaders to understand operational performance, answer financial questions, and support data-driven decision-making.
• Utilize SAP and other systems to research transactions, identify discrepancies, improve data integrity, and support financial analysis.
• Oversee inventory management and cost controls, ensuring accurate valuation, proper cost allocations, and adherence to internal control procedures.
• Lead the annual physical inventory and support cycle count processes to maintain inventory accuracy and financial integrity.
• Support the month-end close process, including reconciling production orders, validating inventory cutoffs, analyzing variances, and preparing capital expenditure summaries.
• Participate in annual budgeting and monthly forecasting processes, providing analysis of trends, risks, and future business scenarios.
• Prepare and present financial insights and performance analyses to leadership, highlighting opportunities for improvement and operational efficiencies.
• Maintain documentation and reporting related to capital expenditures, government incentive programs, and compliance initiatives.
• Proactively identify process, system, or reporting issues and work independently to develop solutions that improve financial accuracy and operational performance.

What you will have:

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field required; CPA or CMA designation is strongly preferred.
• 3+ years of experience in cost accounting, financial analysis, or related accounting and finance roles, required
• 1+ years of experience within a manufacturing environment, required
• Strong understanding of standard costing, variance analysis, budgeting, and month-end close processes.
• Experience working within complex ERP systems, with SAP experience preferred. Experience with Oracle or other large ERP systems will also be considered.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including the ability to analyze and manipulate large data sets.
• Solid understanding of GAAP and financial reporting principles.
• Ability to analyze financial and operational data to identify issues, trends, and opportunities for improvement.
• Comfortable working cross-functionally with operations, quality, supply chain, and plant leadership teams.
• Self-motivated, naturally curious, and eager to learn, with the ability to investigate issues independently and drive solutions.
• Strong communication, analytical, and problem-solving skills with the ability to present financial information to both finance and non-finance leaders

Candidates must currently reside in the Central Arkansas area, as this hybrid position requires regular in-office collaboration.

For more information, please apply directly or reach out to Jennifer Thompson via LinkedIn.

Arkansas Talent Group is an Executive Permanent Placement Recruitment Firm, all considerations will be held confidential.