Assistant Management Accountant

Assistant Management Accountant

Manufacturing | Port Talbot, South Wales
Location: Port Talbot, South Wales
Reporting to: Financial Controller

An exciting opportunity to join a growing manufacturing business:

Are you a commercially minded finance professional looking to develop your career in management accounting within a fast-paced manufacturing environment?

We are seeking a motivated, analytical and detail-oriented Assistant Management Accountant to join our finance team at our manufacturing operation in Port Talbot.

This is an excellent opportunity for someone who enjoys working with numbers but also wants to understand the bigger commercial picture. You will play an important role in providing accurate financial information, analysing manufacturing costs and helping the business improve operational efficiency and profitability.

Working closely with the Finance team and colleagues across Production, Procurement, Engineering and Operations, you will gain valuable exposure to the financial and operational drivers of a manufacturing business. You will be encouraged to challenge variances, identify opportunities for improvement and turn financial data into meaningful business insight.

We are looking for someone who is proactive, curious and keen to make a difference, with the ambition to develop their management accounting skills and contribute to the continued success of the business.

The Role:

Reporting to the Finance Manager or Management Accountant, you will support the preparation of monthly management accounts, manufacturing cost analysis, budgeting, forecasting and financial reporting.

You will work closely with operational teams to understand production performance, investigate cost variances and ensure that stock, work in progress and manufacturing costs are accurately recorded and reported.

This is a hands-on role offering the opportunity to develop both your technical accounting expertise and your commercial understanding of manufacturing operations.

Key responsibilities:

Management accounts and financial reporting

• Assist with the preparation of accurate and timely monthly management accounts.
• Prepare journals, accruals, prepayments and balance sheet reconciliations.
• Analyse actual performance against budgets, forecasts and prior periods.
• Produce financial reports and clear commentary explaining key movements and variances.
• Support month-end and year-end close processes, ensuring reporting deadlines are achieved.

Manufacturing cost accounting:

• Monitor and analyse raw material, direct labour and manufacturing overhead costs.
• Assist with product costing, standard costing and cost of sales calculations.
• Investigate material price and usage variances, labour efficiency and production overhead variances.
• Analyse scrap, waste, rework and production losses to identify opportunities for cost reduction.
• Monitor production costs and, where relevant, cost per unit or tonne produced.
• Work with operational managers to understand cost movements and improve manufacturing performance.

Stock and inventory control:

• Assist with stock valuation, work-in-progress reporting and inventory reconciliations.
• Support periodic and year-end stock counts, investigating discrepancies and unusual movements.
• Monitor slow-moving, obsolete and excess stock.
• Reconcile goods received not invoiced and investigate outstanding items.
• Work with Warehouse, Procurement and Production teams to improve inventory accuracy and control.

Budgeting, forecasting and financial analysis:

• Support the annual budgeting process and regular financial forecasts.
• Monitor departmental expenditure against approved budgets.
• Assist with forecasting material costs, labour, energy, maintenance and other operating expenses.
• Investigate significant variances and provide insight into the financial performance of the business.
• Identify opportunities to improve cost control, efficiency and profitability.

Business partnering and continuous improvement:

• Build effective working relationships with Production, Engineering, Procurement, Warehouse and Commercial teams.
• Provide financial information that helps non-finance colleagues understand business performance.
• Support investment appraisals and capital expenditure monitoring where required.
• Contribute to improvements in financial reporting, accounting processes and internal controls.
• Undertake ad hoc analysis and reporting to support the Finance team and wider business.

About you:

We are looking for someone who combines sound accounting knowledge with strong analytical skills, commercial awareness and a genuine interest in understanding how a manufacturing business operates.

You will be organised, proactive and comfortable working to deadlines. You will also have the confidence to investigate discrepancies, ask questions and work collaboratively with colleagues across the business.

Essential skills and experience:

• Experience in a finance or accounting role, ideally with exposure to management accounts, month-end processes or financial analysis.
• AAT qualified or part-qualified, or actively studying towards ACCA, CIMA or ACA; equivalent relevant experience will also be considered.
• A good understanding of accounting principles, reconciliations and financial reporting.
• Strong Microsoft Excel skills and confidence working with financial data.
• Excellent attention to detail and a methodical approach to problem-solving.
• The ability to manage competing priorities and meet deadlines.
• Clear communication skills and the ability to work effectively with colleagues across different departments.

Desirable experience:

• Experience within manufacturing, engineering or another operationally focused business.
• Exposure to manufacturing cost accounting, standard costing, stock valuation or work in progress.
• Experience using ERP or accounting systems such as SAP, Sage or Microsoft Dynamics.
• An understanding of budgeting, forecasting, cost centre reporting and variance analysis.

Most importantly, we are looking for someone with the right attitude, a willingness to learn and the motivation to develop into a strong management accounting professional.

What we offer:

• The opportunity to develop your career within a manufacturing finance environment.
• Exposure to manufacturing operations, product costing and commercial decision-making.
• The chance to work closely with experienced finance and operational professionals.
• Opportunities to broaden your management accounting and business partnering skills.
• A role where your analysis and recommendations can make a tangible difference to business performance.
• A supportive environment in which to build your technical knowledge and professional qualifications.

Salary, pension, annual leave, study support and other benefits will be confirmed as part of the recruitment process.

Why join us?

This is more than a traditional finance role. You will have the opportunity to understand the relationship between financial performance and manufacturing operations, develop commercially valuable skills and contribute directly to better business decisions.

If you are looking for a role where you can build your expertise, take ownership of your work and progress your career in management accounting, we would welcome your application.

How to apply:

If you have the accounting knowledge, analytical mindset and enthusiasm to succeed in this role, we would love to hear from you.

Please submit your CV outlining your relevant experience, qualifications and interest in the position.

Apply now to take the next step in your finance career.

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