Senior Finance Analyst - Operations

If you’re looking for a special place to build or grow your career, you’ve found it. Whether you’re an experienced professional, a recent college graduate or somewhere in between, IDEX is a place where you can apply your existing skills and learn new ones in an environment where you can make an impact. With interesting opportunities in engineering, marketing, sales, supply chain, operations, HR, finance, and more across more than 40 diverse businesses around the globe, chances are, we have something special for you. Position Summary The Senior Finance Analyst – Cost/Operations partners closely with Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Sourcing, Quality, and executive leadership to improve operational performance, strengthen financial controls, and translate cost and operational drivers into actionable business insights. The position supports month-end close, forecasting, budgeting, standard costing, working capital, productivity, sourcing, and capital investment analysis. This role provides support to the Finance and Operations teams and reports to the Director of Finance & IT.   Essential Functions Cost Accounting & Month-End Close • Own SPO inventory and cost of goods sold month-end close activities, including journal entries, account reconciliations, reserve analysis, and supporting schedules. • Analyze gross margin and manufacturing variances, including material, labor, burden, absorption, purchase price, usage, efficiency, and other operating cost drivers. • Maintain and improve SPO standard cost processes, including annual standard cost roll, labor and burden studies, routings, daily cost rolls, and full-absorption analysis. • Monitor inventory valuation and cost accuracy within JD Edwards; investigate issues and coordinate corrective action with Operations, Supply Chain, and Accounting. • Prepare clear month-end commentary explaining actual results versus forecast, budget, and prior year for cost of sales, gross profit, inventory, and operational performance. • Advise the Director of Finance & IT promptly of material errors, irregularities, significant adjustments, or journal entries as they occur. Operations Finance Business Partnership • Act as the primary Finance business partner to SPO Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Sourcing and Quality teams. • Provide daily, weekly, and monthly reporting on operational and financial KPIs; connect performance trends to financial results and support root-cause and countermeasure activity. • Partner with site leadership on productivity, sourcing, labor and overhead management, layout efficiency, make-versus-buy decisions, inventory improvement, and other margin-expansion initiatives. • Challenge assumptions and translate complex operational data into practical recommendations that improve profitability, cash flow, and accountability. • Support operational reviews, Monthly Business Reviews, Quarterly Operating Reviews, Annual Operating Plan, and other reporting requirements. • Deliver timely ad hoc analysis for operational decisions, site initiatives, and leadership requests. Inventory, Working Capital & Controls • Own analysis and forecasting for SPO inventory and related working capital, including inventory turns, excess and obsolete inventory, reserves, slow-moving inventory, and reduction initiatives. • Coordinate and support the annual physical inventory, including financial reconciliation, variance analysis, and corrective actions. • Partner with Operations and Supply Chain to improve inventory accuracy, reduce inventory risk, and sustain working capital improvements. • Perform and document assigned SOX controls related to inventory, costing, and manufacturing; support internal and external audit requests. • Maintain a strong internal-control environment and recommend process improvements that strengthen accuracy, compliance, and operating efficiency. Forecasting, Planning & Performance Management • Lead the SPO forecast and Annual Operating Plan inputs for cost of sales, operational spending, inventory, productivity, sourcing, labor, overhead, and capital expenditures. • Own department spending analysis and budgeting support for Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Sourcing, & Quality • Maintain operational financial models and identify risks and opportunities against forecast and plan. • Partner with the Senior Finance Analyst – Commercial to align demand, sales, margin, cost, and inventory assumptions and ensure an integrated SPO forecast. • Provide backup coverage for defined Commercial Finance processes, while the Senior Finance Analyst – Commercial provides backup coverage for defined Cost/Operations Finance processes. • Support strategic planning and scenario analysis as assigned. Productivity, Sourcing & Capital Analysis • Own financial validation and reporting for SPO productivity, sourcing, and cost-reduction initiatives, including forecast phasing, realized savings, and variance to target. • Analyze purchase price variance and sourcing performance; partner with Procurement and Operations to explain results and identify corrective actions or additional opportunities. • Prepare financial analysis and business cases for capital expenditures and operational investments, including expected savings, return, cash flow, and post-completion performance. • Partner on new product and product-change cost analysis, ensuring material, labor, burden, and manufacturing assumptions are accurate and supportable. Reporting, Systems & Continuous Improvement • Develop and maintain accurate, decision-useful reports and dashboards using JD Edwards, OneStream, Excel, Power BI, WebI, and other reporting tools. • Automate and simplify recurring cost and operational reporting to improve timeliness, consistency, and analytical capacity. • Ensure data integrity across ERP, financial, and reporting systems; document recurring processes and maintain adequate supporting documentation. • Act as a key Finance resource for JD Edwards cost accounting functionality and collaborate with Operations and IT on system and process improvements. • Apply continuous-improvement thinking and outside-in ideas to Finance and Operations processes. Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities EXPERIENCE & EDUCATION • Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field required. • 5–8 years of progressive accounting or finance experience, preferably in a manufacturing or industrial environment. • Strong cost accounting foundation, including standard costing, inventory accounting, gross margin analysis, and manufacturing variances. • Experience establishing or maintaining material, labor, and overhead standards in an ERP environment. • Strong understanding of the income statement and balance sheet, with working knowledge of U.S. GAAP and internal controls. • Experience with financial planning, forecasting, budgeting, and operational performance analysis. • Advanced Microsoft Excel skills and experience working with large data sets and complex financial models. • Experience with JD Edwards and OneStream preferred; Power BI and WebI experience is a plus. COMPETENCIES Physical Environment and Environmental Factors • Strong Analytical skills required – outstanding attention to detail • Excellent computer and technological skills, including high proficiency in OneStream and Microsoft Office Applications, preferred; Microsoft Excel expertise required • Proven ability to synthesize complex and detailed data and information into the decision-making process • Proven ability to deep dive into details while maintaining a growth mindset capable of seeing the bigger picture • Proven ability to identify problems and think independently about alternative ways to solve problems based on data analytics • Ability to identify and understand business constraints and opportunities by comparing data from different sources • Proactive thinking to take action to anticipate changes in a dynamic business environment to create an approach to consistently deliver on planned resul