What are the responsibilities and job description for the Manufacturing Plant Controller (2748) position at IRONCLAD Powered by Mersino?
Position: Manufacturing Plant Controller – Global Pump
Location: Davidson, MI | Onsite Plant-Based Role
Department: Finance
Direct Supervisor:
About the Role
The Manufacturing Plant Controller owns how financial performance is measured, controlled, and improved at the facility level. This is a build-and-run role. You install discipline across cost accounting, inventory, reporting, and forecasting to ensure the plant runs on accurate data and clear financial visibility.
You operate as the financial owner of plant performance. You translate production activity into financial outcomes, identify gaps, and drive corrective action with operations leadership. Success looks like a plant that runs on clean numbers, strong controls, and clear insight into cost, margin, and profitability.
Key Responsibilities And Duties
Cost Accounting & Control (25%)
Own the cost structure of the plant.
Responsibilities
Ensure inventory is accurate, controlled, and properly valued.
Responsibilities
Own the close process and reporting accuracy.
Responsibilities
Drive forward-looking financial planning.
Responsibilities
Turn data into action.
Responsibilities
Protect the integrity of financial operations.
Responsibilities
Support disciplined investment.
Responsibilities
Key Competencies
Location: Davidson, MI | Onsite Plant-Based Role
Department: Finance
Direct Supervisor:
About the Role
The Manufacturing Plant Controller owns how financial performance is measured, controlled, and improved at the facility level. This is a build-and-run role. You install discipline across cost accounting, inventory, reporting, and forecasting to ensure the plant runs on accurate data and clear financial visibility.
You operate as the financial owner of plant performance. You translate production activity into financial outcomes, identify gaps, and drive corrective action with operations leadership. Success looks like a plant that runs on clean numbers, strong controls, and clear insight into cost, margin, and profitability.
Key Responsibilities And Duties
Cost Accounting & Control (25%)
Own the cost structure of the plant.
Responsibilities
- Establish and maintain standard costs for materials, labor, and overhead
- Analyze production costs and identify key cost drivers
- Partner with operations to improve cost efficiency and margin
- Maintain accurate cost models aligned with plant performance
- Clear visibility into true production costs
- Timely identification of cost issues
- Measurable cost improvement over time
Ensure inventory is accurate, controlled, and properly valued.
Responsibilities
- Oversee inventory valuation and reporting (raw, WIP, finished goods)
- Lead cycle counts and physical inventory processes
- Investigate and resolve discrepancies
- Maintain strong controls over inventory movement
- High inventory accuracy
- Minimal write-offs and surprises
- Strong audit readiness
Own the close process and reporting accuracy.
Responsibilities
- Manage month-end, quarter-end, and year-end close
- Prepare financial statements and supporting schedules
- Complete balance sheet reconciliations
- Deliver timely and accurate reporting
- Consistent day-4 close
- No material errors in reporting
- Clean and reconciled balance sheet
Drive forward-looking financial planning.
Responsibilities
- Lead annual plant budget development
- Build monthly and quarterly forecasts
- Align financial plans with production and volume assumptions
- Track performance against plan
- Accurate and realistic forecasts
- Clear linkage between operations and financial plan
- Early identification of risks and gaps
Turn data into action.
Responsibilities
- Analyze material, labor, and overhead variances
- Identify drivers of financial performance
- Provide actionable recommendations to operations
- Support continuous improvement initiatives
- Clear explanations of performance
- Actionable insights, not just reporting
- Strong partnership with plant leadership
Protect the integrity of financial operations.
Responsibilities
- Ensure compliance with GAAP and corporate policies
- Maintain internal controls and audit readiness
- Support SOX requirements where applicable
- Enforce financial discipline across processes
- No control breakdowns
- Strong audit outcomes
- Consistent adherence to policy
Support disciplined investment.
Responsibilities
- Support capital planning and ROI analysis
- Track CAPEX projects against budget
- Partner with operations on investment decisions
- Clear visibility into capital spend
- Disciplined investment decisions
- Alignment between spend and return
- Accuracy and timeliness of financial reporting (day-4 close)
- Inventory accuracy and control performance
- Variance to standard cost and budget
- Cost reduction and margin improvement
- Forecast accuracy
- Audit and compliance results
Key Competencies
- Strong cost accounting and manufacturing finance expertise
- High ownership mindset with attention to detail
- Ability to translate operations into financial outcomes
- Data-driven with strong analytical capability
- Direct communicator who drives accountability
- Strong business partner to plant leadership
- Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance
- CPA or CMA preferred
- 5–10 years of accounting or finance experience
- 2–3 years in a manufacturing environment
- Experience with ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, JD Edwards, or similar)
- Strong Excel and financial modeling capability