Plant Controller

We are seeking an experienced Plant Controller to serve as the financial leader and strategic business partner for our Loudon manufacturing plant. This role will provide financial leadership across plant operations, ensuring accurate financial reporting, strong internal controls, effective cost management, and actionable insight that supports operational and business performance.

The Plant Controller will partner closely with the Plant Manager and leaders across Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, Procurement, Supply Chain, HR, and Corporate Finance. The ideal candidate combines strong manufacturing finance and cost-accounting expertise with a proactive, hands-on approach to problem solving and continuous improvement.

What You’ll Do

• Lead the plant’s financial reporting, analysis, budgeting, forecasting, and long-range planning activities.
• Serve as a trusted financial business partner to the Plant Manager and leadership team, providing timely analysis, identifying risks and trends, and recommending actions to improve performance.
• Own the plant month-end close process, including accruals, account reconciliations, manufacturing/order settlement, inventory and production variance reviews, and cost-center analysis.
• Lead manufacturing cost accounting activities, including standard costing, product costing, material and labor usage, overhead absorption, production variances, waste and scrap, purchase price variance, conversion costs, and other manufacturing cost drivers.
• Partner with Operations to understand the root causes of financial variances and translate operational performance into financial impact.
• Monitor labor, materials, maintenance, overhead, inventory, and other operating costs and identify opportunities for cost reduction, productivity improvement, and sustainable savings.
• Lead annual budgeting, forecasting, and business planning using operational drivers such as production volume, labor, material usage, waste, maintenance, overhead, and conversion costs.
• Provide financial oversight of inventory, including valuation, cycle and physical counts, adjustments, material movements, slow-moving and obsolete inventory, and GR/IR.
• Provide financial governance over capital expenditures, including project authorization, capitalization versus expense decisions, CIP monitoring, project/order accounting, settlement, and forecast-to-actual reporting.
• Ensure SAP/ERP transactions, cost centers, internal and maintenance orders, settlement structures, and financial/master data support accurate reporting.
• Partner with Operations, Engineering, Procurement, and IT to identify and resolve system, process, configuration, and master-data issues affecting financial performance.
• Maintain strong internal controls and compliance with corporate accounting policies and applicable financial requirements.
• Identify control weaknesses and implement preventive and detective controls to reduce financial risk and recurring errors.
• Provide financial oversight and validation of product costing structures, including Bills of Materials (BOMs), routing, standard costs, and related master data.
• Lead and support continuous improvement initiatives that enhance financial processes, reporting accuracy, operational visibility, cost management, and controls.
• Provide ad-hoc financial analysis and decision support to plant and corporate leadership.
• Directly supervise the Accounts Payable function for the Loudon Plant.
• Promote and support all plant safety objectives, food safety certification requirements, and ISO 9001 standards.
• Perform other duties as assigned by the Regional Finance Director or Plant Manager.

What You’ll Bring

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.
• 5+ years of progressive finance, accounting, cost-control, or manufacturing finance experience, preferably in a plant environment.
• Strong knowledge of:
• Manufacturing cost accounting and standard costing
• Inventory accounting and controls
• Production and manufacturing variances
• Month-end close and financial reporting
• Internal controls
• Capital accounting and expenditure governance
• Strong SAP/ERP experience, including manufacturing and controlling processes.
• Advanced Excel and financial-analysis skills.
• Demonstrated ability to connect operational drivers to P&L, balance-sheet, cash-flow, and profitability impacts.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a proven ability to identify root causes and implement sustainable solutions.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, including the ability to explain complex financial information to non-financial stakeholders.
• Ability to work independently, prioritize competing demands, and meet deadlines in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
• Strong attention to detail, ownership, accountability, and commitment to continuous improvement.

What Success Looks Like

In this role, you will be successful by becoming a trusted partner to plant leadership and Operations. You will anticipate financial and operational issues before they materially affect results, provide clear insight into plant performance, strengthen financial controls, and help the organization identify opportunities to improve productivity, reduce costs, manage working capital, and increase profitability.

Why This Role Matters

This is more than a traditional accounting position. The Plant Controller will have a direct impact on how the Loudon Plant understands its performance and makes operational decisions. You will bring together financial data, manufacturing performance, cost drivers, and business strategy to help the plant operate more efficiently and profitably.

If you are a hands-on manufacturing finance professional who enjoys solving problems, partnering with Operations, and turning financial information into meaningful business action, we encourage you to apply.