Plant Controller

Job Summary

Plant Controller serves as the financial leader of the manufacturing facility and is accountable for maximizing plant profitability through rigorous cost management, operational partnership, and proactive leadership across the manufacturing organization. Owns the financial performance of the plant P&L and is expected to be highly visible on the production floor, partnering daily with Operations, Maintenance, Supply Chain, Quality, Engineering, and Plant Leadership to drive labor productivity, material yield improvement, overhead optimization, and working capital performance. Actively influences plant decisions, identifies inefficiencies, challenges assumptions, and drives corrective actions to deliver world-class manufacturing performance. Influences every dollar spent and every dollar earned within the plant.

Key Responsibilities

Plant Financial Leadership

• Serve as the primary financial leader and strategic business partner to the Plant Manager.
• Provides financial leadership across all operational decisions.
• Own the complete plant P&L, including manufacturing costs, labor, materials, overhead, maintenance expenses, consumables, and inventory performance.
• Deliver timely, accurate, and actionable financial insights that enable rapid decision-making.
• Lead monthly financial reviews, forecasting, budgeting, and strategic planning processes.
• Drive a culture of financial accountability throughout the facility.

Manufacturing Cost Management

• Support all manufacturing cost improvement initiatives focused on:
  • Material utilization and yield
  • Labor productivity
  • OEE improvement
  • Overhead management
  • Waste elimination
• Develop and implement processes to identify, quantify, and eliminate cost losses throughout the manufacturing process.
• Partner with operations teams to translate manufacturing metrics into financial outcomes and measurable savings.
• Establish rigorous cost controls and continuously challenge spending levels against benchmarks and standards.
• Ensure recovery of customer associated costs

Shop Floor Financial Leadership

• Maintain a highly visible presence on the manufacturing floor.
• Spend significant time in production areas understanding drivers of performance and financial results firsthand.
• Partner directly with Production Managers, Supervisors, Maintenance Leaders, Supply Chain teams, and Operators to identify cost-saving opportunities.
• Drive accountability for labor efficiency, material usage variances, productivity metrics, downtime costs, scrap reduction, and inventory performance.
• Utilize daily management systems to connect operational performance with financial outcomes.

Labor Productivity and Workforce Cost Control

• Lead labor cost analysis across all the production lines and departments.
• Monitor staffing and crewing levels, overtime, efficiency metrics, and workforce productivity.
• Identify opportunities to optimize labor deployment while supporting safety, quality, and service objectives.
• Partner with Operations leadership to institutionalize labor performance metrics and accountability.

Material Cost and Yield Management

• Own financial oversight of material consumption and manufacturing yields.
• Drive variance analysis related to:
  • Raw materials
  • Packaging materials
  • Ingredient utilization
  • Scrap and waste
  • Rework losses
• Ensure robust controls exist around inventory consumption, production reporting, and loss tracking.
• Lead financial reviews of yield opportunities and manufacturing process improvements.

Overhead, Repair & Maintenance Control

• Establish financial discipline around plant overhead spending.
• Drive aggressive management of:
  • Repair and maintenance expenses, Plant supplies and consumables
  • Indirect labor
  • Utilities and Contract services
• Challenge spending requests and ensure every expenditure supports operational value creation.
• Partner with Maintenance and Engineering leadership to optimize preventive maintenance investments while controlling total maintenance costs.
• Develop visibility and accountability around plant fixed and variable spending.

Financial Planning, Analysis, and Controls

• Lead annual budget, forecasts, monthly and weekly estimate processes including standard costs development and maintenance for the Plant
• Develop predictive financial models that support plant performance management.
• Ensure compliance with all internal controls, accounting policies, and corporate reporting requirements.
• Lead month-end close activities related to plant operations.
• Maintain audit-ready financial processes and controls.

Continuous Improvement and Operational Excellence

• Partner with Plant Leadership to identify and execute productivity initiatives.
• Support Continuous Improvement programs.
• Quantify financial benefits of operational improvement projects.
• Challenge the status quo and continuously seek opportunities to improve profitability and efficiency.
• Foster a data-driven culture focused on operational and financial excellence.

Inventory and Working Capital Management and Control

• Maintain strong financial control over inventory accuracy and working capital performance.
• Ensure robust processes exist for:
  • Cycle counts
  • Physical inventories
  • Inventory reconciliation
  • Obsolescence management
  • Slow-moving inventory reduction

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, Accounting, Economics, Engineering, or related field.
• 5+ years of progressive finance experience within a manufacturing, consumer products, industrial, or supply chain environment.
• Experience supporting Manufacturing, Engineering, or Operations functions.
• Strong expertise in financial planning, business partnering and cost management.
• Financial modeling and data analytics capabilities.
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior stakeholders and drive business decisions.

Preferred

• MBA, CPA, CMA, or equivalent advanced qualification.
• Experience in a global Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) organization.
• Experience with SAP, Business Warehouse, and BPC, or similar planning and analytics platforms.
• Experience supporting capital investment projects.

Core Competencies

• Strategic thinking
• Business Partnership
• Manufacturing & Supply Chain Acumen
• Financial Modeling & Analytics
• Executive Communication
• Results Orientation
• Continuous Improvement Mindset

The information provided in this document provides an overview of the most common duties, qualifications, and demands of the position. It is not intended to be a comprehensive summary of the role, and the duties, qualifications, and demands of the position are subject to change without notice. The expectations provided here may also be modified if an employee with a disability could effectively meet the expectations for the role with reasonable accommodation.

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