Plant Controller

Videojet • Elk Grove, IL

22h • Hybrid

About The Position

We're seeking a Plant Controller to serve as a strategic financial business partner to the plant directors and operations leadership teams across Videojet's Wood Dale and Elk Grove facilities. In this role, you'll harness data-driven insights and deep financial acumen to identify productivity opportunities, influence operational decisions, and deliver measurable, favorable impacts to cost across North American manufacturing. This is an opportunity to sit at the intersection of finance and operations—shaping how two high-priority manufacturing sites perform financially while building your career within a globally recognized, purpose-driven organization. You'll work closely with plant directors, cost accounting, supply chain, and the broader Operations Finance team to translate financial data into clear, actionable business intelligence. Success in this role means that within 12–18 months, the Wood Dale and Elk Grove facilities have stronger financial visibility, productivity initiatives are clearly tracked and delivering results, and plant directors view you as an indispensable strategic partner in their decision-making.

Requirements

• 7+ years of experience in operations finance, plant controlling, or manufacturing finance within an industrial or manufacturing environment.
• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, or a related field.
• Proven track record of partnering with operational leaders to identify and deliver cost improvement or productivity outcomes.
• Experience with ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, or equivalent) and strong proficiency in Microsoft Excel and financial reporting tools.
• Demonstrated ability to synthesize complex financial data into clear, compelling business narratives for non-finance audiences.
• Strong interpersonal and influencing skills with the ability to build trusted relationships with plant and operations leadership.

Nice To Haves

• CPA, CMA, or equivalent professional accounting designation (or active pursuit).
• Experience supporting multi-site manufacturing operations within a publicly traded company.
• Background in standard costing, inventory management, or manufacturing variance analysis.
• Familiarity with Lean/continuous improvement methodologies (e.g., Kaizen, VPS) and their application to financial performance management.
• Experience with data visualization tools such as Power BI or Tableau to develop plant-level financial dashboards.
• Prior experience collaborating across global finance teams in a matrixed organization.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of site-level operating budgets and financial forecasts, collaborating with plant leadership to build credible, operations-aligned plans.
• Partner with plant directors and site leadership teams at Wood Dale and Elk Grove to deliver proactive financial insights that drive productivity and operational decision-making.
• Analyze plant-level cost performance, including material, labor, and overhead variances, and translate findings into clear, actionable recommendations for operations leaders.
• Drive identification and tracking of cost improvement and productivity initiatives, ensuring financial impacts are quantified, reported, and realized.
• Deliver timely and accurate monthly financial reporting for both facilities, including variance analysis, KPI dashboards, and forward-looking risk and opportunity assessments.
• Collaborate with the Cost Accounting and global finance team to ensure cost accounting practices are applied consistently and accurately at the plant level.
• Support capital expenditure planning and post-investment analysis, partnering with plant directors to prioritize and evaluate productivity-enhancing investments.
• Influence operational behavior by making financial data accessible and meaningful to non-finance stakeholders, fostering a culture of financial accountability on the plant floor.
• Facilitate month-end, quarter-end, and year-end close processes for both sites, ensuring accuracy and timeliness of all plant-level financial submissions.
• Implement and maintain strong internal controls at the site level, supporting SOX compliance and audit readiness across both facilities.
• Partner with operations, supply chain, and business leaders to analyze inventory performance, establish inventory targets, monitor key KPI trends, and drive initiatives that improve inventory productivity, forecast accuracy, and profitability.

Benefits

• A flexible, remote-friendly work environment
• Paid holidays and a permissive paid time off policy emphasizing flexibility and trust
• Ongoing investment in your career through dedicated training, on-the-job development, and coaching
• Total rewards that support your success at work and beyond, including comprehensive health benefits, a 401(k) savings plan with employer match, and associate wellbeing programming with rewards
• medical/dental/vision insurance
• 401(k) to eligible employees

What This Job Offers

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