Plant Controller

Addiction Pet Foods

7d • Remote

About The Position

The Plant Controller supports New Zealand manufacturing operations remotely, partnering with Finance, Production, Supply Chain, and plant leadership to strengthen cost control, improve reporting accuracy, and drive efficiency through financial analysis, AI, and process automation. The role owns plant financial reporting, month-end close, and analysis of manufacturing performance, and leads plant budgets and forecasts. It also maintains and reviews standard costs, bills of materials, labour rates, overhead allocations, and inventory accounting.

The Plant Controller analyzes production and financial variances, recommends corrective actions, and partners with operational teams to identify and track cost-saving opportunities. The role supports capital expenditure proposals and monitors project spending and returns. It also identifies and implements AI and automation opportunities across recurring finance processes, builds repeatable workflows and dashboards, and uses AI tools to support analysis and draft financial commentary while validating outputs against source data. Appropriate approvals, audit trails, and data confidentiality must be maintained. The position is remote and requires availability for agreed hours overlapping with the New Zealand operations team.

Requirements

• A degree in Accountancy, Finance, or a related discipline.
• At least five years of relevant experience in manufacturing finance, plant accounting, or cost accounting.
• Strong knowledge of standard costing, inventory valuation, variance analysis, and month-end reporting.
• Advanced Excel skills and experience using an ERP system.
• Hands-on experience using AI tools and automation to improve finance processes, with examples of time saved, errors reduced, or reporting improved.
• Experience with Power Query, Power BI, Power Automate, or equivalent reporting and workflow platforms.
• Ability to investigate discrepancies, challenge assumptions constructively, and explain financial results to non-finance colleagues.
• Strong ownership, attention to detail, and ability to work independently in a remote environment.
• Availability to work agreed hours that overlap with the New Zealand operations team.

Nice To Haves

• CPA, CA, CMA, or an equivalent professional qualification.
• Experience in food, FMCG, or process manufacturing.
• Experience supporting New Zealand operations or working across countries.
• Familiarity with SQL, Python, or low-code tools for financial analysis and automation.
• Experience connecting ERP data to automated reports and dashboards.

Responsibilities

• Own plant financial reporting, month-end close, and analysis of manufacturing performance.
• Maintain and review standard costs, bills of materials, labour rates, and overhead allocations.
• Analyze material usage, purchase prices, labour efficiency, yield, waste, and production variances.
• Oversee inventory accounting, reconciliations, stocktake results, and provisions for slow-moving or obsolete stock.
• Lead plant budgets and forecasts, explain performance against targets, and recommend corrective actions.
• Partner with operational teams to identify cost-saving opportunities and track financial benefits.
• Support capital expenditure proposals and monitor project spending and returns.
• Identify and implement AI and automation opportunities across recurring reports, reconciliations, data consolidation, variance analysis, and forecasting.
• Build repeatable workflows and dashboards that reduce manual work, improve data quality, and deliver timely insights.
• Use AI tools to support analysis and draft financial commentary, validating outputs against source data and applying sound financial judgment.
• Maintain appropriate approvals, audit trails, and data confidentiality across automated processes.

Benefits

• Remote work supporting a New Zealand manufacturing team.
• Opportunity to take ownership of plant finance and improve financial performance.
• Opportunity to modernise finance processes through practical AI and automation.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level