Divisional Plant Controller (New Plant Build-Out)
An established, PE‑backed manufacturer is building a brand‑new flagship plant and distribution hub in the Atlanta metro, and hiring the first finance leader it has ever embedded inside one of its plants.
This is a build‑out. If you have personally stood up the finance function for a new plant (a build‑out, start‑up, relocation, or consolidation), or stepped into one that wasn’t running smoothly, keep reading.
This Role Is For You If
- You have personally built a plant finance function (start‑up, build‑out, relocation, or consolidation), or stepped into one that wasn’t running smoothly and fixed it, and can walk through exactly what you put in place.
- You know a plant floor cold: efficiency/OEE, bill of materials, scrap and waste, absorption, plant spend, forecasting, AOP and budgets, capital/capitalization.
- You operate without a net. No one is sitting next to you; you already know what needs to be done and you do it.
- You default to building. You document, create, standardize, and train processes that don’t exist yet.
- You are energized by ambiguity. A lot here is not laid out A‑to‑Z, and you want to be the one who figures it out.
- You will be onsite for the build and want to be, because you know the plant floor doesn’t trust a finance partner who isn’t there.
- You are comfortable in an older, legacy ERP. You’ve been around the block, not fresh out of school.
This Role Is Not For You If
- Your plant experience is stepping into a mature, smoothly running close and keeping it going. You have never built or fixed one.
- You have been adjacent to plant operations (corporate FP&A, reporting‑only) but never personally owned efficiency, BOM, absorption, and waste.
- You need defined process, a team, and structure handed to you before you can perform.
- You want fully remote or a corporate‑office seat. This role is onsite at the plant through the build.
- You expect someone else to make the calls. There is no controller above you at this plant; you set what good looks like.
About The Company
- A PE‑backed manufacturer and distributor, standing up a new flagship manufacturing plant with an attached distribution hub in the Atlanta metro. A true build, with infrastructure going in in real time.
- Runs lean in finance. This is the first finance role ever placed inside one of its plants; you are creating the standard, not inheriting it.
- A full onsite leadership team is being built around this plant (plant director, engineering, quality, continuous improvement, HR, warehouse). You won’t be alone, but finance is yours.
The Culture and Leadership
- Flexibility that’s real, not a policy on paper. Go to your kid’s game, handle life; no one is counting hours.
- Onsite through the build, which the right person wants to be there for, with genuine openness to hybrid as the plant stabilizes.
- You’ll report to a leader who wants a true problem‑solver and partner, gives you room to run, and trusts you to own it.
- A lean, close‑knit team where your work is seen and your judgment carries weight.
- Autonomy with real support. You own the finance function, and leadership backs you.
Compensation
- Base: $140 000 to $150 000+ with flexibility for the right person.
- Bonus: 10%+ with a high payout history.
- Relocation available.
- Location: Onsite, McDonough, GA (Atlanta metro).
Qualifications
Must‑Haves
- Plant / manufacturing controller experience that includes a build‑out, start‑up, plant relocation, consolidation, or turnaround of a plant that wasn’t running smoothly.
- Fluency in plant/cost finance: OEE, BOM, absorption, scrap/waste, plant spend, forecasting, AOP, budgets, capital.
- A self‑directed operator who has built and documented process without oversight.
- Willing to be onsite in McDonough (Atlanta metro) through the build with potential hybrid after.
Ideal
- A mix of large‑company and small‑company / lean‑team experience.
- Plastics / blow molding, fluids / chemical, or high‑volume filling background.
What You Will Own
- Stand up and own the plant finance function end to end (controls, processes, reporting, month‑end close) where little exists today.
- Own the plant P&L drivers: efficiency/OEE, bill of materials accuracy, scrap and waste, absorption, plant spend, and variance analysis, and translate them for operations.
- Serve as the finance right hand to the plant director, in the details daily, not a month‑end readout.
- Build the annual operating plan (AOP), budgets, forecasts, and capital/capitalization tracking through the build and ramp‑up.
- Create, document, and train the processes, controls, and reporting cadence that do not exist yet.
- Be hands‑on and strategic: both a doer (journal entries, close) and a partner who sets direction.
What’s Different About This Opportunity
- A true build. You set what great looks like for plant finance, and it becomes the model across the network, not just at this site.
- First‑ever embedded plant finance role, with high visibility to the senior director, VP, and CFO.
- Growth up and out into a large, growing supply chain, procurement, category management, and commercial organization.
- No layers. You own the calls.
- A growing manufacturing network, with new sites and expansion ahead.