Cost Accounting Director/Lead — South Bay (LA), California | Pacific Executive Search

Cost Accounting Director/Lead

(Job ID: 1900)

South Bay (LA), California

On-Site

Direct Hire

Aerospace/Defense

$175,000 – $250,000 base

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Overview

Join a dynamic and innovative team as a Cost Accounting Lead, where your expertise will play a crucial role in driving financial performance and strategic decision-making. This position offers a unique opportunity for career advancement and professional development in a collaborative environment that values integrity, innovation, and flexibility. You will be empowered to influence key financial processes and contribute to the overall success of the organization.

Responsibilities

Lead the cost accounting function, ensuring accurate and timely reporting of costs and financial performance metrics.
Develop and implement cost control measures to enhance profitability and operational efficiency.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams to support budgeting, forecasting, and financial analysis initiatives.
Oversee the integration of acquisitions into the cost accounting framework, ensuring compliance with relevant accounting standards.
Manage revenue recognition processes in accordance with ASC-742 and other applicable regulations.
Utilize ERP systems such as SAP or NetSuite to streamline financial reporting and analysis.
Mentor and develop junior accounting staff, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and professional growth.

Qualifications

Must-Have: Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.
Must-Have: 5+ years of experience in cost accounting or a similar financial role.
Must-Have: Strong knowledge of revenue recognition principles, particularly ASC-742.
Must-Have: Proficiency in ERP systems, specifically SAP or NetSuite.
Nice-to-Have: CPA or CMA certification.
Nice-to-Have: Experience with acquisition integration and financial due diligence.
Nice-to-Have: Excellent analytical skills and attention to detail, with the ability to communicate complex financial information effectively.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do Accounting Manager hires fail?
Because companies hire for close execution when the real need is issue ownership and team leadership. Many candidates can manage a checklist. Far fewer can stabilize the function under pressure, improve weak processes, coach staff, and hold the line during audit, turnover, or reporting stress.
What are strong Accounting Manager candidates evaluating during the interview process?
They are usually trying to understand whether they are walking into a stable environment, a cleanup situation, or an under-resourced function. Strong candidates do not just evaluate title and compensation. They assess whether success is realistically achievable and whether leadership understands what the accounting team actually needs.
Why is manufacturing accounting and finance talent difficult to hire well?
Because manufacturing environments expose weak operators quickly. The work touches inventory, costing, margins, controls, operations, and often plant-level realities. Employers are not just hiring accounting knowledge. They are hiring someone who can function inside an operational business where the numbers have to connect to what is happening on the floor.
Why does ERP experience matter so much in roles like this?
Because many accounting and finance roles are really process-and-systems roles disguised as job titles. A candidate may know the accounting, but if they cannot operate effectively inside the company's environment, ramp time becomes risk. Exact system match is not always mandatory, but comparable complexity often is.
How do strong candidates typically evaluate opportunities like this?
Strong candidates rarely evaluate a role based on title alone. They look at what the position actually owns, how the function is viewed internally, whether the environment is stable or in transition, and what success will realistically look like in the first 6 to 12 months. Many first discover a role through a posting, but the strongest career decisions usually come from understanding the context behind the opportunity, not just the job description. In accounting and finance hiring, that level of context is often what separates a lateral move from a meaningful one. Learn more about how strategic accounting and finance searches differ from transactional recruiting.
Is the CPA really required for roles like this?
Sometimes yes, and often functionally yes even when the posting says "preferred." At leadership levels especially, the CPA frequently acts as a credibility signal for hiring managers, auditors, lenders, investors, or boards. There are exceptions, but in many accounting searches it remains one of the clearest markers of technical foundation.

Cost Accounting Director/Lead

Overview

Responsibilities

Qualifications

Apply Now

Frequently Asked Questions

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