Job Overview

The Operations Cost Analyst serves as the critical operational bridge between external vendors, our Logistics & Operations team, and central Finance. Sitting directly within the Operations department, this role owns the entire pre-approval spend and invoice verification lifecycle—auditing incoming vendor charges, resolving price and calculation discrepancies, securing approvals for non-standard expenses, and enforcing vendor submission guidelines before handing off accurate records to Accounting.

Key Responsibilities

• Invoice Verification & Audit: Audit incoming vendor invoices for 3PL logistics, warehouse packaging, uniforms, and daily supplies against internal operational tracking tools, rate cards, and delivery logs to ensure accurate billing.

• Discrepancy & Conflict Resolution: Investigate and resolve variances between internal calculations (e.g., operational logs, toll calculations) and final vendor-submitted amounts before departmental approval.

• Expense & Quote Coordination: Coordinate expense requests and secure pre-approvals and quote approvals for any operational purchases or non-standard services not covered by existing vendor contracts.

• Vendor SLA & Guideline Management: Act as the main operational point of contact for external providers, guiding them on company invoice submission standards and enforcing internal Finance SLAs.

• Pre-Approval Workflow Control: Manage the internal pre-submission pipeline to ensure only fully verified, error-free invoices are routed to Finance for final payment processing.

• Performance & Spend Reporting: Maintain accurate cost tracking data to serve as the foundation for operational spend reporting, vendor performance evaluation, and budget planning.

Qualifications & Experience

• Background: 6 months – 2 years of experience in accounts payable support, billing administration, invoice auditing & tracking, month end cost estimations, or general finops support.

• Data & Systems Skills: Strong proficiency in data reconciliation (Excel/Google Sheets) and familiarity with logistics, ERP, or inventory management systems. AI first thinking is a strong plus.

• Problem-Solving: High attention to detail with a track record of identifying calculation errors, auditing spend, and resolving vendor billing disputes smoothly.

• Communication: Clear, diplomatic communicator who can enforce process guidelines with vendors while maintaining strong working relationships.