Sr. Cost/Data Analyst in Miami, Florida at ASCENDING LLC

Title: Senior Cost & Data Analyst
Location: Miami, FL or within an hour of this area – very flex hybrid work schedule, just want folks to be able to come in from time to time
Term: Contract-to-hire

Position Overview
Our client is building the power infrastructure that makes the AI era possible. As AI demand surges past what the grid and traditional data centers can support, our client provides a new class of power technology proven at gigawatt scale and trusted by the world's leading cloud and AI companies. Our systems are already deployed across 2.5 GW of hyper-scale campuses, validated by top U.S. national labs, and certified for grid-safe operation by major utilities. With real products in the field, we're scaling faster than the grid can, transforming power from a bottleneck into a competitive advantage for the companies building the future.

What You'll Do
Labor cost allocations

• Prepare and run recurring (monthly, quarterly, and year-end) labor cost allocations across departments, cost centers, projects, entities, and funding sources
• Maintain allocation methodologies, drivers, and assumptions (headcount, time tracking, effort reporting, percent-of-time), and document any changes
• Allocate fully loaded labor costs, including salary, bonus, commissions, benefits, payroll taxes, equity compensation, and other employer costs
• Reconcile allocated labor costs to payroll registers, the general ledger, and HRIS records, and investigate and resolve variances
• Support month-end close by delivering allocation journals and supporting schedules on schedule
• Support audit, compliance, and tax needs (e.g., capitalized software labor, R&D credits, grant or contract cost reporting) with clean documentation

Data and reporting

• Build and maintain reports and dashboards on labor cost, headcount, and cost-center trends
• Partner with FP&A on headcount planning, labor forecasts, and budget-to-actual analysis
• Provide ad hoc analysis for People and business leaders on workforce cost questions

Data quality and process improvement

• Monitor the integrity of employee data feeding allocations (org structure, cost center mappings, job and location data, employment status)
• Identify errors and gaps early, and work with HRIS, Payroll, and managers to fix them at the source
• Create and maintain process documentation, controls, and audit trails

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Data Analytics, Economics, Information Systems, or a related field (or equivalent experience)
• 7+ years of experience in data analysis, financial analysis, payroll or HR analytics, or accounting
• Advanced Excel or Google Sheets skills (pivot tables, lookups, complex formulas, reconciliations)
• Working knowledge of SQL, and comfort handling large, messy datasets
• Strong attention to detail with a track record of reconciling data across multiple systems
• Ability to explain technical or methodological topics clearly to non-technical stakeholders
• Discretion in handling confidential employee and compensation data

Preferred

• Experience with labor cost allocations, cost accounting, or month-end close processes
• Familiarity with HRIS and payroll systems (e.g., Workday, ADP, HiBob) and ERP or GL systems (e.g., NetSuite)
• Experience building or improving controls and audit-ready documentation
• Exposure to multi-entity or multi-country allocations