Senior Cost Manufacturing Analyst

Primient is a century old company with an entrepreneurial spirit. We are a leading producer of food and industrial ingredients made from plant-based, renewable sources. We deliver value through deep technical, commercial, and operational excellence that is backed by our long-standing corn wet milling heritage. Wherever we are in the process, from field to customer, our priorities are focused on ensuring we produce the safest, highest quality products through practices that uphold both our responsibility and commitments to the challenge and drive for excellence, our people and our planet. We are a privately held company with locations across the US, Mexico, Poland, and Brazil. We’re investing in our plants and people to unlock our potential in the industrial and food sectors. Guided by our values of Safety, Excellence, Integrity, and Growth, we’re focused on growing our business, our reputation, and the career of every teammate.

The Senior Cost Manufacturing Analyst is a highly visible finance business partner responsible for supporting the Sr. Plant Controller and Global Process Engineering team in driving financial performance and enabling informed business decisions across manufacturing operations.

This role serves as a key resource to site operations by providing financial analysis, operational insights, and decision support while ensuring alignment with company policies, financial standards, and a strong internal control environment. The position supports the preparation and communication of accurate financial results, forecasts, budgets, and performance analyses.

Responsibilities include manufacturing site reporting, fixed and variable cost analysis, capital spending support, annual budgeting, monthly forecast cycles, and financial analysis for strategic and operational initiatives.

The role also contributes to continuous improvement by identifying cost trends, evaluating business performance, and providing actionable recommendations to improve operational and financial results. Success in this role requires strong analytical skills, business acumen, and the ability to build collaborative relationships across the organization.

The Senior Cost Manufacturing Analyst partners closely with senior leadership, Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain, and other cross-functional teams to deliver financial insights that support key business initiatives and strategic decision-making. This position reports to the Sr. Plant Controller, is hybrid role and is based in Schaumburg, Illinois.

This is an exciting opportunity to come into a private equity-backed, market leading industrial manufacturer with a history of success and a strong reputation in the market. It has a long track record of success, a reputation for superior capabilities, and a diversified and marquee customer base for whom it creates mission critical products.

Accountabilities with Key Outcomes

• Monitor plant performance against operating plans, including financial results, production output, and key cost drivers

• Analyze manufacturing costs and standard cost performance to identify trends, variances, and opportunities for improvement
• Prepare and communicate regular financial reports and variance analysis to plant and corporate stakeholders
• Support development of annual budgets, and monthly forecasts including analysis and variance explanations
• Maintain and validate bills of materials and costing structures to ensure reliable product costing and inventory valuation
• Support the delivery of timely and accurate monthly financial reporting, ensuring transparency and alignment with plan and forecast
• Ensure the integrity and accuracy of financial and capital reporting. Work closely with controlling team to ensure elements capitalized match US GAAP definition
• Assist logistics and demand teams with manufacturing activities performed in tollers, such as standard cost, month-end close and reporting
• Support and help prepare capital strategic business plans (5 year plan)
• Support preparation of presentations for senior management team and assist Sr. Plant Controller with presentations to Operations Leadership, the Capital Engineering Team, COO and CFO
• Support capital cash flow forecast for the Treasury team
• Prepare financial capex analyses for major projects, ensuring alignment with business strategies, priorities, and financial requirements
• Review financial analysis prepared by the plant for the small projects, especially ensuring capturing benefits and continuous improvement from capex
• Provide financial consulting on key strategic initiatives and priorities to help the organization stay focused on achieving their strategic goals
• Support any special project work throughout the Operations team
• Ad hoc analysis & other business requests - provide ad hoc reports and analysis as needed to support overall business

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• BA/BS Degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field; MBA preferred

• 5 to 10 years of experience in financial analysis, financial/strategic planning, reporting or FP&A
• Strong knowledge of manufacturing cost accounting, standard costing and variance analysis
• Background in budgeting and forecasting within a manufacturing or plant environment
• Experience owning full month-end, quarter-end, and year-end close, including journal entries, reconciliations, analyses, and management reporting
• Ability to operate independently as the senior finance lead in a site-based environment
• Strong experience analyzing variable and fixed costs in a plant or industrial environment
• Prior experience with financial reporting systems and visualization tools, such as SAP, Planful, Onestream and Power BI
• Excellent analytical skills and the ability to translate analytical findings into actionable solutions and processes
• Broad overall business acumen with proficient ability to talk with executives in business terms
• Ability to multi-task in a fast-paced environment with fluctuating priorities and deadlines. Ability to work without direct supervision, and efficiently manage tasks and time
• Occasional travel, typically less than 10%
• Proficiency in Word, PowerPoint, Outlook required; Advanced Microsoft Excel skills include analytical modeling, robust chart prep and data mining for large data sets

• Competitive Pay​

• Multiple Healthcare plan choices​

• Dental and vision insurance​

• A 401(k) plan with company and matching contributions ​

• Short- and Long-Term Disability​

• Life, AD&D, and Voluntary Insurance plans​

• Paid holidays & vacation​

• Floating days off​

• Parental leave for new parents​

• Employee resource groups​

• Learning & development programs​

• Fun culture where you have an opportunity in shaping our future

We are believers in the power of difference. We strive to represent the communities in which we operate and to provide an inclusive, welcoming environment for all. We want Primient to be a place where every employee feels they belong and knows they are seen, heard, valued and safe to speak up. Our aspiration is to unlock the full potential in diverse perspectives, while offering everyone an equal chance to grow,

Primient is an equal opportunity employer, committed to the strength of an inclusive workforce.

California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA")

The Company is committed to complying with the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) and all data privacy and laws in the jurisdictions in which it recruits and hires employees. We collect the following categories of personal information for the purpose of hiring the best qualified applicants and to comply with applicable employment laws: Name and contact information; Job preference and work availability; Social Security Number and/or other identification information; Education and qualifications; Employment history and experience; Military service; Reference and background check information, including relevant criminal history and credit history; Social media information; Pre-employment test results; Post-offer medical examination information and results, including drug test results; Voluntary self-disclosure information regarding minority, veteran, and disability status; and Information provided by you during the hiring process.