Plant Controller - River Falls, WI

Rise Baking Company•River Falls, WI

1d•$124,000 - $155,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Plant Controller provides financial leadership to the River Falls plant as a member of the plant leadership team and the Plant Manager’s primary finance partner and co-pilot. The role develops an understanding of plant operations, connects operational performance to financial outcomes, identifies risks and opportunities, and partners across functions to improve business performance. This position is based on site at the plant. The Plant Controller leads financial analysis and decision support, manages planning and forecasting, and connects manufacturing drivers to cost, margin, productivity, working capital, and cash flow. The position owns the plant’s monthly close, financial reporting, manufacturing cost accounting, and key financial and operational controls, while supporting food safety, quality standards, and product legality.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, or a related field.
10+ years of progressive finance or accounting experience, including meaningful manufacturing or plant finance experience.
Strong understanding of manufacturing operations, cost accounting, standard costing, forecasting, inventory, financial controls, and performance analysis.
Demonstrated ability to lead and influence cross-functionally, including with non-finance leaders.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills, including the ability to translate complex information into clear business actions and constructively challenge assumptions.
Strong Excel and ERP capabilities.
Ability to work on-site in a manufacturing environment and travel among assigned facilities as needed.

Nice To Haves

CPA, CMA, MBA, or another relevant advanced degree or certification.
Food manufacturing, consumer products, or process-manufacturing experience.
Previous Plant Controller, Plant Finance Manager, or Operations Finance leadership experience.
SAP or comparable manufacturing ERP experience.
Experience with Lean, continuous improvement, capital investment, ERP implementation, or business transformation.

Responsibilities

Serve as the plant’s finance leader and the Plant Manager’s co-pilot, providing financial insight, constructive challenge, and leadership in key business decisions.
Participate as an engaged member of the plant leadership team and partner with Operations, Supply Chain, Quality, Engineering, Maintenance, Human Resources, Safety, and other functions.
Develop a deep understanding of plant operations, including production, labor, materials, yield, waste, throughput, downtime, capacity, and inventory.
Participate in daily L2, weekly L3, and monthly L4 Rise Recipe tier reviews; follow Finance Leader Standard Work and maintain a visible presence through regular plant-floor engagement.
Connect operational performance to cost, margin, productivity, working capital, and cash flow, translating risks and opportunities into actions, owners, and expected outcomes.
Build financial understanding and accountability throughout the plant leadership team.
Lead financial analysis and business partnership to improve plant cost, productivity, margin, product and customer profitability, working capital, and capital efficiency.
Identify root causes of variances and partner with Operations to drive corrective actions.
Own plant scorecard financial measures—weekly material usage and labor variance, and monthly cost per pound—and provide the narrative and escalate when thresholds are breached.
Lead annual planning and forecasting, ensuring forecasts are driver-based, actionable, and connected to operational performance, S&OP volumes, the plant labor plan, and the production schedule.
Support productivity initiatives, staffing and capacity decisions, capital investments, and other significant operational decisions through financial analysis and scenario modeling.
Track and validate benefits from Rise Recipe, productivity, and capital initiatives, and hold the organization accountable for committed results.
Communicate what happened, why it happened, what is expected next, and what action is required.
Own the plant’s monthly close by WD5 and accurate, timely financial reporting, including planning, forecasting, balance sheet management, reconciliations, and variance analysis.
Complete and own the standard P&L package and scorecard provided by the Finance Center of Excellence, adding commentary and actions.
Maintain manufacturing cost accounting, including standard costs, material usage, labor, yield, waste, overhead, inventory, and other manufacturing variances; review standard costs quarterly.
Ensure integrity of plant financial and operational data using LaunchPAD as the single source and provide analysis of underlying operational drivers.
Maintain controls over inventory, including cycle counts and the inventory deviation log; purchasing, including GR/IR monitoring; expenses; capital; production reporting; and other plant financial processes.
Support internal and external audits and ensure compliance with company accounting policies and control requirements.
Partner with Regional Finance Operations, the Finance Center of Excellence, and other Plant Controllers to improve processes, tools, analytics, and consistency.
Support the food safety program, quality standards, and legality of manufactured products.
Perform other job-related duties as assigned.