Cost Accountant

Description

Estée Lauder Companies at Whitman Laboratories manufactures one-fifth of the company’s global sales output. As a global leader in prestige beauty, we serve over half a billion consumers each year, offering brands such as Estée Lauder, MAC, Jo Malone London and Clinique across more than 150 countries.

We are seeking a detail-oriented and analytical Cost Accountant (12-month FTC) to join our team. This role is responsible for delivering accurate product costings across EMEA operations, supporting budgeting activities, maintaining master data integrity, and providing valuable cost analysis to support business decision-making. Working closely with Finance, Marketing, Supply Chain, and Manufacturing teams, you will play a key role in ensuring costing accuracy and driving continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

• Produce accurate and timely product costings to support Marketing requirements and EMEA plant standard costs.
• Generate final product costs for EMEA manufacturing plants, resolving data issues that may impact costing accuracy.
• Support the EMEA cost budgeting process by analysing data, investigating variances, responding to queries, and conducting cost comparisons.
• Produce and maintain final product costs for selected affiliate markets.
• Ensure all product costing master data is accurate, complete, and maintained within company systems.
• Provide feasibility costings for new products and projects, alongside ad hoc cost analysis to support business decisions.
• Identify opportunities to improve costing processes, data quality, and overall operational effectiveness.

Qualifications

• Understanding of standard costing principles and variance analysis.
• Knowledge of financial controls, company policies, and internal control requirements.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to interpret complex data.
• Excellent attention to detail and commitment to producing accurate work.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Collaborative team player who builds effective relationships based on trust and respect.
• Demonstrates learning agility, adapting quickly to changing business needs and priorities.
• Driven to achieve excellence through continuous improvement and high-quality execution.