Plant Controller

Makers Pride•McComb, OH

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Plant Controller serves as the financial leader of a manufacturing facility and is accountable for maximizing plant profitability through cost management, operational partnership, and proactive leadership. The role owns the plant P&L and partners closely with Operations, Maintenance, Supply Chain, Quality, Engineering, and plant leadership to improve labor productivity, material yield, overhead, and working capital. It calls for a highly visible presence on the production floor and active involvement in plant decisions, identifying inefficiencies, challenging assumptions, and driving corrective actions. The Controller leads financial planning and analysis, including budgeting, forecasting, estimates, standard costs, monthly financial reviews, and month-end close activities. The role establishes financial controls, ensures compliance with accounting policies and reporting requirements, and maintains audit-ready processes. It also supports continuous improvement by connecting operational measures to financial results, quantifying savings, and fostering accountability for profitability and efficiency. The position requires a bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, economics, engineering, or a related field, along with at least five years of progressive finance experience in a manufacturing, consumer products, industrial, or supply chain environment. Preferred qualifications include an MBA, CPA, CMA, or equivalent; experience in a global CPG organization; familiarity with SAP, Business Warehouse, and BPC or similar platforms; and experience supporting capital investment projects.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, economics, engineering, or a related field.
At least 5 years of progressive finance experience in 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.

Nice To Haves

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.

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary financial leader and strategic business partner to the Plant Manager, providing financial leadership across operational decisions.
Own the complete plant P&L, including manufacturing costs, labor, materials, overhead, maintenance expenses, consumables, and inventory performance.
Provide timely, accurate, actionable financial insights and lead monthly financial reviews, forecasting, budgeting, and strategic planning.
Drive a culture of financial accountability throughout the facility.
Support cost improvement initiatives related to material utilization and yield, labor productivity, OEE, overhead management, and waste elimination.
Develop and implement processes to identify, quantify, and eliminate manufacturing cost losses.
Partner with Operations to translate manufacturing metrics into financial outcomes and measurable savings, establish cost controls, and challenge spending against benchmarks and standards.
Ensure recovery of customer-associated costs.
Maintain a visible presence on the manufacturing floor and work with production, maintenance, supply chain, and operators to identify cost-saving opportunities.
Drive accountability for labor efficiency, material usage variances, productivity, downtime costs, scrap reduction, and inventory performance using daily management systems.
Lead labor cost analysis across production lines and departments; monitor staffing, crewing, overtime, efficiency, and workforce productivity.
Identify opportunities to optimize labor deployment while supporting safety, quality, and service objectives, and institutionalize labor performance metrics with Operations leadership.
Own financial oversight of material consumption and manufacturing yields, including analysis of raw materials, packaging, ingredient utilization, scrap, waste, and rework losses.
Ensure controls over inventory consumption, production reporting, and loss tracking; lead financial reviews of yield opportunities and process improvements.
Manage plant overhead spending, including repair and maintenance, supplies and consumables, indirect labor, utilities, and contract services.
Challenge spending requests and partner with Maintenance and Engineering to optimize preventive maintenance investments while controlling total maintenance costs.
Develop visibility and accountability for fixed and variable plant spending.
Lead annual budgets, forecasts, monthly and weekly estimates, and development and maintenance of plant standard costs.
Develop predictive financial models to support plant performance management.
Ensure compliance with internal controls, accounting policies, and corporate reporting requirements; lead plant-related month-end close activities and maintain audit-ready processes.
Partner with Plant Leadership on productivity initiatives and continuous improvement programs, quantify their financial benefits, and seek opportunities to improve profitability and efficiency.
Maintain financial control over inventory accuracy and working capital, including cycle counts, physical inventories, inventory reconciliation, obsolescence management, and reduction of slow-moving inventory.