COMPANY INTRODUCTION
Manzana Products Co. has been in business for over 100 years and is a leading producer of organic apple juice, apple sauce, and apple cider vinegar. Manzana is owned by Agrial, a prominent French co-op of 12,000 farmer members and a force in agriculture and food production.
Manzana’s mission is to create quality apple products by placing the highest value on people, suppliers, customers, and continuous improvement in manufacturing capabilities, with social and environmental responsibility at the heart of our actions.
We are in the process of relocating our manufacturing facility from Sebastopol, CA to Sunnyside, WA. While the facility is essential, we believe that building a strong, dedicated team is the key to success. At Manzana, we work each day to foster a culture focused on food safety, employee health and safety, customer service, continuous improvement, and an inclusive, respectful environment where all team members’ contributions are valued, and feedback is encouraged.
At Manzana, all employees are required to actively participate in our comprehensive Food Safety Program to ensure the consistent production of the highest quality and safest food products. This commitment is essential to maintaining our standards and protecting our customers.
Join us as we grow and make a difference together
Job Summary:
The Financial Analyst plays a critical role in the financial launch and ongoing performance management for our new Sunnyside location. This position is responsible for building the cost accounting architecture within the site's ERP system, delivering accurate monthly financial reporting, and acting as a trusted financial partner to operations and commercial teams. The ideal candidate combines strong technical accounting skills with hands-on experience in food manufacturing environments and is comfortable translating complex financial data into actionable insights for non-finance stakeholders.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
- ERP Cost Calculation System Setup – Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
o Lead the configuration and implementation of the cost accounting module within Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (D365 BC).
o Define and set up routers cost structures including raw materials, packaging, direct labor, overhead allocation, and yield/waste factors.
o Establish Bill of Materials (BOM) costing and production routing in alignment with manufacturing processes.
o Collaborate with IT, supply chain, and production teams to ensure data integrity and system alignment across all modules.
o Develop and document cost accounting policies, procedures, and system configuration.
o Conduct cost roll-ups, validate results, and manage the annual standard cost revision cycle.
- Financial Reporting & Monthly P&L Preparation
o Prepare and deliver the full monthly site P&L, including variance analysis between actual, budget, and standard costs.
o Analyze manufacturing variances: purchase price variance (PPV), usage/yield variance, labor efficiency variance, and overhead absorption.
o Produce management reporting packages with clear commentary on financial performance drivers.
o Supports timely month-end close activities including journal entries, accruals, and inventory valuation.
o Reconcile financial data between the ERP system and the general ledger; investigate and resolve discrepancies.
o Support internal and external audit requirements related to cost accounting and inventory.
- Operations Financial Support
o Serve as the primary financial contact for plant managers, production supervisors, and supply chain teams.
o Provide cost tracking and KPI dashboards to support daily and weekly operational decisions.
o Analyze cost of goods manufactured (COGM) and cost of goods sold (COGS) to identify savings opportunities and inefficiencies.
o Support capital expenditure (CapEx) evaluations with financial modeling and payback analysis.
o Assist in budget preparation and quarterly forecasting for manufacturing cost centers.
- Sales & Commercial Financial Support
o Collaborate with the sales and commercial teams to develop project financial simulations and scenario models.
o Prepare accurate margin estimates for new product launches, customer bids, promotional campaigns, and pricing decisions.
o Provide profitability analysis by SKU, customer, channel, and product category.
o Support new business opportunity assessments including break-even analysis, contribution margin calculations, and ROI modeling.
o Maintain and update product cost databases to ensure pricing inputs are current and accurate.
- Budget Preparation, Reforecast & Financial Planning
o Coordinate the annual budget process for the site, covering manufacturing costs, overhead, headcount, and capital expenditure; ensuring timely submission in line with the corporate financial calendar.
o Build and maintain detailed bottom-up budget models integrating volume assumptions, raw material costs, labor plans, productivity targets, and capacity utilization rates specific to the food manufacturing environment.
o Conduct rigorous variance analysis throughout the budget cycle — comparing submitted figures against historical actuals, industry benchmarks, and operational plans — and challenge assumptions that appear inconsistent or insufficiently supported.
o Drive the quarterly reforecast process by collecting updated inputs from cost center owners, operations, and supply chain, then critically assessing the reliability and completeness of each revised assumption.
o Apply an analytically oriented and questioning mindset to budget reviews: proactively identify gaps, over-optimistic projections, or cost underestimates, and facilitate structured conversations with department heads to align financial plans with operational reality.
o Prepare budget-vs-actual bridge analyses with clear explanations of volume, price, mix, and efficiency variances, distinguishing between structural trends and one-off events.
o Support budget holders in reviewing and adjusting their assumptions by providing relevant financial context, trend data, benchmarking, and scenario modeling — acting as a critical yet constructive partner rather than a passive consolidator.
o Develop rolling forecast models within Dynamics 365 Business Central and connected planning tools (e.g., Power BI or equivalent), enabling real-time visibility into projected full-year financial outcomes
o Produce clear, well-structured budget and reforecast presentations for senior management, highlighting key risks, opportunities, and recommended actions
Qualifications
- Education Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or a related field required
o CPA, CMA, CIMA, or equivalent professional designation preferred
-
A minimum of 3 years of progressive experience in financial analysis, cost accounting, or controlling.
- Demonstrated experience in food manufacturing, FMCG, or industrial production environment is strongly preferred.
- Hands-on experience with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, specifically in cost accounting, production orders, item costing, and financial reporting. Prior involvement in a D365 BC go-live or new site implementation is a plus.
- Proven track record preparing P&L statements and management reports in a manufacturing context.
Skills
- Strong proficiency in Microsoft Excel (advanced formulas, pivot tables, financial modeling).
- Experience with BI/reporting tools (Power BI, Tableau, or equivalent) is a plus.
- Solid understanding of cost accounting principles: standard costing, absorption costing, variance analysis.
- Familiarity with food industry-specific concepts: yield rates, batch production costing, co/by-product accounting, inventory shrinkage.
- Strong analytical mindset with high attention to detail and a structured, critical approach to problem-solving; able to challenge assumptions constructively and distinguish signal from noise in financial data.
- Intellectually curious and comfortable asking difficult questions — particularly in budget and reforecast settings where assumptions need rigorous stress-testing.
- Excellent communication skills – ability to present financial information clearly to non-finance audiences.
- Proactive, self-starter attitude; able to work autonomously in a fast-paced, start-up site environment.
- Strong cross-functional collaboration skills; comfortable working with operations, supply chain, and commercial teams.
Ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines, particularly around month-end close
Additionally, Manzana offers a competitive benefits package that includes:
o Medical, dental and vision with 100% of the monthly premiums for the Employee paid by Manzana.
o Manzana offers a generous contribution towards the monthly healthcare premiums for eligible dependents.
o Team Members are eligible to enroll the first of the month after 30 days of employment.
- Life AD&D Insurance (when enrolled in medical insurance)
- 401(k) with a company match of up to 6% of the employee’s contribution.
- Paid holidays: 9 per year
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
