Associate Director, Cost & Inventory Accounting #5009

Our mission is to detect cancer early, when it can be cured. We are working to change the trajectory of cancer mortality and bring stakeholders together to adopt innovative, safe, and effective technologies that can transform cancer care. We are a healthcare company, pioneering new technologies to advance early cancer detection. We have built a multi-disciplinary organization of scientists, engineers, and physicians and we are using the power of next-generation sequencing (NGS), population-scale clinical studies, and state-of-the-art computer science and data science to overcome one of medicine’s greatest challenges. GRAIL is headquartered in the Bay Area of California, with locations in Washington, D.C., North Carolina, and the United Kingdom. It is supported by leading global investors and pharmaceutical, technology, and healthcare companies. For more information, please visit grail.com GRAIL is seeking an experienced Associate Director, Cost & Inventory Accounting to lead our cost and inventory accounting operations, ensuring accurate financial reporting, strong internal controls, and efficient accounting processes. This role will oversee the financial close process, drive process improvements, develop a high-performing team, and collaborate cross-functionally with Lab Operations, Supply Chain, IT, and FP&A. The ideal candidate brings strong technical accounting expertise, a hands-on leadership approach, and the ability to drive operational excellence in a dynamic, growing organization This role is based at our Durham, North Carolina or Sunnyvale, California, office. It offers a flexible work arrangement, with the ability to work from GRAIL's office or from home. Our current flexible work arrangement policy requires that a minimum of 60%, or 24 hours, of your total work week be on-site. Your specific schedule, determined in collaboration with your manager, will align with team and business needs and may change over time. Responsibilities: Lead the monthly and quarterly cost and inventory close, establishing clear priorities, schedules, responsibilities, and checkpoints to meet reporting deadlines. Provide thoughtful and thorough reviews of key accounting deliverables, including reconciliations, journal entries, inventory rollforwards, E&O reserve, and cost calculations, with the ability to independently validate or reperform work as appropriate. Investigate significant fluctuations and changes to standards, understand underlying business drivers, and provide clear, well-supported explanations of financial variances. Ensure accounting workpapers and supporting reports are accurate, complete, well documented, and ready for internal and external audit review. Serve as a key contact for auditors, overseeing execution of cost and inventory SOX controls, identifying potential control gaps, and working with internal audit and cross-functional partners to implement improvements and address findings. Build a practical understanding of Lab Operations, Supply Chain, Warehouse, and inventory processes to evaluate accounting impacts, challenge assumptions, and identify opportunities to improve accuracy and efficiency. Coach and develop the team through clear expectations, timely feedback, technical guidance, appropriate delegation, and accountability for quality and deadlines. Partner with Lab Operations, Supply Chain, Lab, IT, and FP&A to resolve data and process issues and coordinate changes that affect accounting and reporting. Lead improvements to processes, reporting, controls and systems, recommending solutions, coordinating action plans, and following through to resolution. Partner with the Technical Accounting team to understand new accounting standards and regulatory requirements, assess their operational impact, and lead the implementation of necessary changes to accounting processes, policies, systems, and internal controls Required Qualifications: Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance. 8+ years of accounting experience, including work in a SOX-compliant environment, with a strong understanding of audit documentation, control execution, and identifying and resolving accounting for control deficiencies. 3+ years of people management or team leadership experience, with demonstrated ability to review work effectively, coach staff, and deliver against deadlines. Strong understanding of US GAAP, inventory accounting, financial close processes, internal controls, and audit support requirements. Experience reviewing accounting analyses and reconciliations, identifying exceptions, and working with others to resolve issues. Sound analytical judgment, attention to detail, and ability to connect financial results with underlying transactions and business processes. Effective planning, prioritization, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills. Advanced spreadsheet skills and experience with ERP systems such as NetSuite. 10% Travel requirements Preferred Qualifications: CPA and/or public accounting experience preferred Experience in diagnostics, genomics, life sciences, or another inventory-intensive environment.