Controller - Food Manufacturing

Role Overview

We are seeking an experienced Controller to lead the financial operations of a large-scale food manufacturing site.

This is a highly operational finance role, partnering closely with the Plant Manager and leadership teams across production, supply chain, procurement, warehousing, quality and operations. The successful candidate will provide financial insight and challenge across the site, helping drive profitability, cost control, productivity and operational performance.

The role will have responsibility for site financial reporting, budgeting and forecasting, inventory and product costing, capital expenditure, financial controls and performance analysis.

The ideal candidate will have a strong background in food manufacturing or another complex manufacturing environment, with experience supporting high-volume production and warehouse operations.

Please note: this is an onsite role, in the Atlanta region. Candidates who are not based in the region will be supported with a comprehensive relocation package to support a relocation.

Key Responsibilities

Plant Finance & Business Partnership

• Act as the senior finance partner to the Plant Manager and site leadership team.
• Provide financial insight and challenge across production, warehousing, supply chain and operational activities.
• Translate operational performance into meaningful financial analysis and recommendations.
• Support decisions around production efficiency, labour, materials, overheads and site expenditure.
• Identify opportunities to improve margins, reduce costs and increase operational efficiency.
• Support the development and execution of site-level financial and operational strategies.

Manufacturing & Cost Accounting

• Oversee financial performance across a large-scale manufacturing operation.
• Analyse manufacturing costs, labour, materials, overheads, yields, waste and production variances.
• Partner with production leadership to understand cost drivers and identify improvement opportunities.
• Monitor production efficiency, productivity and cost performance against budget and standards.
• Support product costing and standard cost development.
• Investigate significant production and manufacturing variances and ensure appropriate corrective actions are taken.
• Provide financial support for continuous improvement and productivity initiatives.

Inventory, Warehouse & Supply Chain Finance

• Maintain financial oversight of raw materials, work-in-progress and finished goods inventory.
• Partner with supply chain and warehouse leadership to improve inventory accuracy and working capital.
• Monitor inventory levels, valuation, ageing, obsolescence and product losses.
• Support financial controls across receiving, production, storage and finished-goods movements.
• Analyse warehouse costs, labour, productivity and operating expenses.
• Work with Procurement and Supply Chain to understand material costs, purchasing trends and supply-related financial impacts.

Planning, Budgeting & Forecasting

• Lead the site's annual budgeting process.
• Develop rolling forecasts and provide regular updates on expected financial performance.
• Partner with operational leaders to establish realistic financial targets.
• Monitor actual performance against budget, forecast and prior-year results.
• Identify emerging risks and opportunities and communicate them clearly to site leadership.
• Support capital planning and investment decisions across the manufacturing operation.

Financial Reporting & Controls

• Own the accuracy and timeliness of site financial reporting and management accounts.
• Oversee month-end close activities and ensure appropriate accounting treatment for site operations.
• Analyse P&L performance and provide clear explanations of key variances.
• Maintain strong financial controls across inventory, purchasing, production and capital expenditure.
• Support internal and external audit processes.
• Ensure compliance with company policies, accounting standards and control requirements.
• Identify control weaknesses and implement appropriate improvements.

Capital & Operational Investment

• Support the evaluation and financial justification of capital projects.
• Partner with Engineering, Operations and Plant Leadership on major equipment and facility investments.
• Monitor capital expenditure against approved budgets.
• Evaluate expected financial returns and operational benefits from capital investment.
• Provide financial analysis for productivity, automation and capacity expansion projects.

Leadership & Development

• Lead and develop the site's finance team.
• Establish clear objectives, performance expectations and development plans.
• Promote a culture of financial accountability throughout the plant.
• Develop strong relationships with non-finance leaders and improve financial understanding across the site.
• Support continuous improvement across finance processes and reporting.

Candidate Profile

We are looking for an experienced finance professional who combines strong technical accounting knowledge with hands-on manufacturing finance experience, ideally within food industries.

Essential Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics or a related discipline.
• Significant progressive finance experience within a manufacturing environment.
• Experience supporting a large-scale food manufacturing operation is strongly preferred.
• Previous experience as a Plant Controller, Site Controller, Manufacturing Controller, Cost Accounting Manager or similar.
• Experience with a site delivering multiple $100m revenues - ESSENTIAL
• Strong understanding of manufacturing cost accounting and operational finance.
• Experience supporting production, warehouse and supply chain operations.
• Proven experience with budgeting, forecasting and financial modelling.
• Strong understanding of inventory accounting and product costing.
• Experience analysing manufacturing variances, labour, material and overhead costs.
• Strong business partnering skills with Plant, Operations and Supply Chain leadership.

Desirable

• Multi-site manufacturing exposure.
• Food, beverage, FMCG or other high-volume manufacturing experience.
• CPA, CMA or equivalent professional qualification.
• Experience with ERP systems within a manufacturing environment.
• Experience supporting major capital projects and plant investments.
• Experience with Lean manufacturing or continuous improvement environments.

Key Areas of Responsibility

Manufacturing Finance | Cost Accounting | Production | Inventory | Warehousing | Supply Chain | Budgeting | Forecasting | Product Costing | Working Capital | CAPEX | Financial Controls | Plant Performance

Keywords

Plant Controller, Plant Finance, Site Controller, Site Finance Manager, Manufacturing Controller, Manufacturing Finance, Cost Accounting Manager, Cost Controller, Operations Finance, Food Manufacturing, Food Production, FMCG, Manufacturing, Production Finance, Inventory, Warehouse, Supply Chain, Plant Finance Manager.