About Your Role
The Manager, Costing will manage development costing activities for Altra footwear, supporting accurate, timely and commercially sound product-cost decisions throughout the product development cycle.
This role will partner closely with Product Development, Sourcing, Engineering, Finance, Materials and Product Vendors to establish reliable product costs, identify cost-saving opportunities and support design-to-cost decisions. The Manager will help implement consistent, fact-based costing methodologies and improve the efficiency, accuracy and transparency of costing processes.
The role requires strong footwear manufacturing knowledge, analytical capability and the ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders. The individual will also support process improvement initiatives and share costing knowledge and best practices with relevant teams.
Your Responsibilities Will Include
Product Costing and Profitability
- Manage end-to-end development costing activities for assigned Altra footwear products.
- Review and validate product costs, including materials, labour, overhead, tooling and other relevant manufacturing cost components.
- Identify opportunities to improve product profitability through design-to-cost, material optimization, manufacturing efficiency and supplier collaboration.
- Provide clear costing insights and recommendations to support product, sourcing and commercial decisions.
- Monitor cost development against agreed targets and highlight material risks, variances and opportunities.
Costing Governance
- Ensure costing information is accurate, complete and communicated on time across Product Vendors and relevant internal functions.
- Support consistent use of costing standards, tools and methodologies.
- Maintain appropriate costing documentation, assumptions and records to enable transparency and effective decision-making.
- Ensure adherence to agreed costing processes, timelines and approval requirements.
Cross-Functional Partnership
- Partner with Product Development, Sourcing, Engineering, Materials, Finance and Product Vendors to support effective cost management.
- Work with stakeholders to understand product requirements, identify cost drivers and recommend practical solutions.
- Facilitate timely resolution of costing issues during the product development process.
- Build effective working relationships across a global and matrixed organization.
Process Improvement
- Identify opportunities to improve costing accuracy, productivity and efficiency.
- Support the elimination of redundant activities and the automation of repetitive costing tasks.
- Contribute to the development and implementation of standardized, scalable costing processes.
- Use costing data and analysis to identify trends, recurring issues and improvement opportunities.
- Participate in cross-functional costing projects and provide relevant analyses and deliverables.
Capability Building
- Share costing knowledge, tools and best practices with relevant team members and business partners.
- Support onboarding and capability development for costing associates when required.
- Provide practical guidance on footwear costing methodologies and manufacturing cost drivers.
- Promote consistent application of costing standards and processes.
Travel
- Approximately 10%, based on business requirements.
What We Will Be Looking for in You
Competencies
- Strong technical understanding of footwear product costing and manufacturing.
- Commercially minded, with the ability to connect product decisions to cost and profitability.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Able to translate complex costing information into clear business recommendations.
- Collaborative and comfortable working across different functions, cultures and locations.
- Able to influence stakeholders and build consensus without relying on formal authority.
- Organized, detail-oriented and able to manage several priorities within seasonal timelines.
- Proactive in identifying risks, gaps and opportunities for improvement.
- Digital mindset with an interest in process efficiency, automation and data-driven decision-making.
- Clear and concise communication style, with the ability to be diplomatic, open and direct.
Skills and Experience
- Relevant experience in footwear product costing, development, engineering, manufacturing, sourcing, a buying office or a trading company.
- Strong knowledge of footwear construction, manufacturing processes and product cost drivers.
- Practical understanding of materials, labour, manufacturing overhead and supplier cost structures.
- Experience reviewing cost breakdowns and supporting cost negotiations.
- Experience working with Product Development, Sourcing, Engineering, Materials, Finance and manufacturing partners.
- Demonstrated experience improving processes, tools or ways of working.
- Strong analytical skills and proficiency in Excel or other relevant costing and data-analysis tools.
- Good commercial acumen and stakeholder-management skills.
- Experience working in a global, matrixed organization would be an advantage.
- Experience with digital costing platforms, automated costing tools or data visualization would be an advantage.
Education
- Bachelor’s degree in Footwear Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing, Business, Finance, Supply Chain or a related discipline.
- Equivalent relevant industry experience may also be considered.
R-20261103-0045
