Plant Controller - Manufacturing

Plant Controller – Manufacturing

Location: Utica, NY
Employment Type: Full-Time | On-Site
Salary: $98,000–$140,000, based on experience and industry knowledge
Industry: Advanced Manufacturing / Industrial Technology
Function: Finance & Accounting

Plant Controller – High-Growth Manufacturing Operation

A growing advanced-manufacturing organization is seeking an experienced Plant Controller to lead financial operations for its Utica, New York facility.

This is a highly visible position partnering directly with site and operational leadership. The Plant Controller will translate manufacturing performance into meaningful financial insight while supporting growth, cost discipline, capital investments, inventory management, and operational decision-making.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead site financial reporting, forecasting, budgeting, cost analysis, monthly close support, and management reporting.
• Analyze manufacturing cost drivers including labor, overhead, inventory, scrap, rework, productivity, purchase price variance, premium freight, and capital spending.
• Partner with plant leadership to identify financial risks, cost-improvement opportunities, operating tradeoffs, and resource-allocation decisions.
• Support capital investment requests, business cases, payback analysis, project tracking, capitalization, and post-completion reviews.
• Maintain strong financial controls, accounting accuracy, standard costing, inventory valuation, and cost-center governance.
• Support manufacturing ramp-up planning, including labor requirements, overhead absorption, startup costs, inventory requirements, capacity investments, and productivity assumptions.
• Partner with Supply Chain on inventory health, cycle counts, excess and obsolete inventory, purchase price variance, and freight costs.
• Work with Operations and Continuous Improvement teams to validate productivity savings, scrap reduction, labor efficiencies, and cost-reduction initiatives.
• Partner with Engineering on equipment justification, tooling costs, make-versus-buy analysis, standard-cost impacts, and capital controls.
• Prepare financial forecasts, operating reviews, variance explanations, financial bridges, annual plans, and leadership decision packages.
• Ensure compliance with corporate finance policies, internal controls, approval requirements, and audit documentation.
• Help operational leaders understand financial and manufacturing cost drivers to support fact-based decisions.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business, or a related field.
• Professional experience in manufacturing finance, plant controlling, cost accounting, FP&A, or operations finance.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing finance, including:
  • Standard costing
  • Inventory valuation
  • Budgeting and forecasting
  • Variance analysis
  • Capital tracking and controls
  • Labor and overhead analysis
  • Manufacturing cost drivers
• Experience working with ERP and financial systems.
• Ability to analyze financial and operational data and communicate findings effectively to plant and operational leadership.
• Strong business-partnering skills with the ability to influence decisions through financial analysis.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree, CPA, CMA, or equivalent professional certification.
• Experience supporting a manufacturing plant or distribution operation.
• Experience with capital-intensive manufacturing environments, facility expansions, new product introductions, or operational ramp-ups.

Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $98,000–$140,000, based on experience and industry knowledge.

The organization offers a comprehensive benefits package that may include:

• Annual bonus opportunity
• Paid vacation
• Retirement benefits
• Insurance benefits
• Professional development and training
• Career advancement opportunities within a global organization

Interested?

Qualified Plant Controllers, Cost Accounting leaders, Manufacturing Finance Managers, and Operations Finance professionals are encouraged to apply.

This is a confidential search. Additional information regarding the organization will be provided to qualified candidates during the recruiting process.