Plant Controller

Plant Controller

AFL | Finance - Operations & Supply Chain

Reports to: Director of Finance, Operations & Supply Chain

Dotted-line relationship: Plant Manager

Job Summary

The Plant Controller is the finance leader for the manufacturing facility and a core member of the plant leadership team. The role ensures accurate plant financial results, strong controls and inventory integrity, and translates operating performance into actions that improve profitability, productivity, working capital and capital effectiveness. The position executes enterprise finance, accounting, costing, planning and control standards in close partnership with Plant Management, Operations, Supply Chain, Engineering, Product Costing, Corporate Controllership and Division Finance.

Key Accountabilities

Financial Close and Reporting

• Lead the plant close; ensure timely, complete and accurate accruals, journal entries, reconciliations, schedules and results in accordance with the corporate close calendar.

• Certify the integrity of the plant P&L, balance sheet, inventory, fixed assets and manufacturing transactions; explain results versus forecast, budget and prior year, including operational causes and required actions.

Planning and Performance

• Own accurate and timely plant budget, forecast and long-range-plan inputs for volume, mix, labor, material, overhead, inventory and capital; identify risks, opportunities, sensitivities and recommended actions.

• Monitor governed scorecards and operating reviews, linking operational drivers to gross margin, operating profit, inventory, working capital and cash; support cross-site forecasting and scenario analysis.

Product Costing and Margin Integrity

• Execute standard-cost activities and annual cost rolls under enterprise methods. Validate bills of material, routings, labor and machine rates, overhead, yields, scrap factors and production master data.

• Analyze purchase price, labor efficiency, scrap, material usage, overhead spending and absorption variances; partner on root causes and corrective actions, escalating policy, methodology or system issues to Product Costing.

• Provide reliable cost, capacity and margin inputs for pricing, sourcing, make-versus-buy, product-mix and new-product decisions while respecting Market Finance ownership of customer pricing.

Inventory and Working Capital

• Ensure accurate raw-material, work-in-process and finished-goods quantities and valuation. Lead physical inventories and cycle counts, reconcile exceptions, and drive corrective action.

• Analyze excess, obsolete and slow-moving inventory, valuation reserves, turns, aging and asset utilization; partner with Operations and Supply Chain to reduce working capital without compromising service or resilience.

Controls, Compliance and Audit

• Maintain effective plant controls and procedures consistent with GAAP, J-SOX, corporate policy, delegated authority and segregation-of-duties requirements. Support audits, remediate findings and improve financial and operational master-data quality.

Capital and Operational Decision Support

• Develop capital models and returns analysis, track spending, commitments and benefits, and perform post-investment reviews. Provide analysis for labor, productivity, automation, capacity, footprint, sourcing and continuous-improvement decisions.

Business Partnership and Team Leadership

• Serve as the primary finance partner to the Plant Manager and participate in S&OP, operating, productivity and continuous-improvement reviews. Deliver clear commentary on what happened, why, what is expected next and what action is required.

• Lead, mentor and develop the plant finance team; strengthen capability in manufacturing finance, product costing, controls, data quality, analytics and business partnership; adopt enterprise tools, standards and automation.

Decision Rights and Role Boundaries

The Plant Controller owns the accuracy, completeness, explanation and certification of plant financial results and local finance processes. Corporate Controllership owns accounting policy, official close, consolidation and external reporting; Product Costing owns enterprise costing policy and system governance; Enterprise Performance owns planning standards; Treasury owns liquidity, banking and payment-release standards; Market Finance owns customer pricing; and the Plant Manager owns operating execution.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance or a related discipline; MBA, CPA or CMA preferred.

• Progressive accounting or finance experience, including significant manufacturing, cost-accounting or plant-finance experience, plus demonstrated team leadership and development.

• Strong knowledge of GAAP, SOX, internal controls, audit requirements, standard costing, absorption accounting, inventory valuation, manufacturing variances and production economics.

• Experience with budgeting, forecasting, financial and capital analysis, and fixed assets. Proficiency with ERP and reporting systems, advanced Excel and analytical tools; Oracle preferred.

• Ability to understand manufacturing operations, translate drivers into financial actions, work effectively in a matrix organization and influence stakeholders while maintaining financial integrity.

Personal Qualities

Strong leadership, teamwork and interpersonal skills; independent judgment and constructive challenge; analytical problem-solving; clear communication; organization and attention to detail; adaptability; and a reputation for integrity, accountability and transparency.

Key Relationships

Plant Manager and leadership team; Operations Finance; Product Costing; Corporate Controllership; Internal Audit; Compliance; Treasury; Enterprise Performance; Operations; Supply Chain; Procurement; Engineering; Quality; IT; and Market Finance.

Working Conditions

Primarily office-based within a manufacturing facility, with regular interaction in production and inventory areas and occasional facility observation.