Plant Controller

About the Role<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b>

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Allied Fabricators, LLC is the domestic fabrication arm of Allied Steel Buildings, producing steel building components at our Texas plant. We are looking for a seasoned Plant Controller to own the financial picture of the factory floor - not just to close the books, but to tell us what a job actually costs, where margin is leaking, and what the inventory is really worth.<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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This is a hands-on role <\/span>at<\/span> a growing operation. You will be the senior finance presence on site, reporting to AFL's VP of Operations and functionally accountable to the EVP of Financial Reporting & Analysis and the CFO. You will need to serve plant priorities and corporate reporting standards at the same <\/span>time, and<\/span> hold the line when those pull in different directions.<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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You will lead a team of two staff accountants and serve as the on-site approval authority for plant spending. Our Texas facility also houses Allied Advanced Systems (AAS), so shared-cost allocation and clean intercompany discipline are part of the job.<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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What You'll Own<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b>

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Cost Accounting<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b>

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• Maintain and refine the standard cost system: material, labor, burden, and overhead rates<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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• Develop and <\/span>validate<\/span> machine-hour and labor-hour burden rates by work center<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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• Analyze and explain manufacturing variances - purchase price, material usage, labor efficiency, overhead absorption - and drive them to root cause with operations<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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• Job-level and project-level costing: estimate vs. actual, margin at completion, and the story behind the gap<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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• Support pricing, make-vs-buy, and capital investment decisions with <\/span>real cost<\/span> data<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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Team & Approval Authority<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b>

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• Manage, develop, and review the work of two staff accountants - assign close responsibilities, set review standards, and build their capability over time<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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• Own the plant's purchasing approval workflow: review and approve purchase requisitions and POs within delegated authority, and escalate above-threshold items to corporate with a clear recommendation<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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• Administer the capital expenditure approval process from request through authorization - verify business case, cost basis, and payback assumptions before anything moves forward<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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• Verify and sign off on analyses prepared by staff and by operations before they go to plant leadership or corporate<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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Financial Stewardship & Advisory<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b>

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• Act as financial advisor to the plant executive team - bring analysis, options, and consequences to decisions on capacity, staffing, pricing, sourcing, outsourcing, and capital before they are committed<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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• Protect the integrity of AFL's financial results and safeguard the assets behind them: inventory, equipment, and the processes that touch cash<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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• Question operating decisions the numbers do not support, and require an assumption set, cost basis, and payback on any proposal that spends money<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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• Be the independent financial voice in the room - willing to be the only dissent when the analysis calls for it, and to carry that view to corporate finance when it is not resolved at the plant<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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• Translate operating decisions into their P&L, cash, and balance sheet effect so leadership sees the full cost before committing<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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• Surface risk, exposure, and unfavorable trends to plant leadership and corporate early and directly<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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Inventory<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b>

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• Own inventory accounting end to <\/span>end:<\/span> raw steel, consumables, WIP, and finished goods<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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• Run the cycle count program and lead physical inventories; investigate and resolve shrink and count variances<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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• Monitor inventory valuation, obsolescence, and reserve adequacy<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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• Partner with purchasing and production control on turns, scrap, and material yield<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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Close, Reporting & Controls<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b>

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• Lead the plant month-end close and deliver results to corporate on schedule<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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• Produce the plant P&L with meaningful commentary - not just numbers, but what happened and what we are doing about it<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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• Build and report operational KPIs: cost per ton, throughput, labor <\/span>utilization<\/span>, scrap rate, on-time production<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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• Maintain internal controls over inventory, receiving, production reporting, and fixed assets<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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• Manage intercompany transactions and shared-facility cost allocations (AAS co-location, MSH facility lease, corporate charges)<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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• Maintain reporting integrity and accounting policy compliance as defined by corporate finance, independent of plant operating pressures<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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• Support external audit requests and corporate consolidation<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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• Own the plant's capital expenditure tracking and fixed asset records<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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Planning<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b>

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• Build the annual plant operating budget and rolling forecasts<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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• Model capacity, headcount, and overhead scenarios for plant leadership<\/span><\/span><\/span>

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• Flag risk early - before it shows up in a variance report<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>

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Requirements<\/h3>Qualifications and Competencies<\/span><\/span>

<\/p><\/div>Required<\/span><\/span>

<\/p><\/div>Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance<\/span><\/span>

<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div>7-10 years of progressive accounting experience, with demonstrated advancement in scope and responsibility<\/span><\/span>

<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div>Prior experience as a Controller or Financial Controller<\/span><\/span>

<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div>Experience leading and developing an accounting team<\/span><\/span>

<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div>Demonstrated depth in standard costing, variance analysis, and overhead absorption - this is the core of the job<\/span><\/span>

<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div>Hands-on inventory accounting experience<\/span><\/span>

<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div>Experience owning a full month-end close<\/span><\/span>

<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div>Strong ERP experience and advanced Excel (pivot tables, lookups, modeling)<\/span><\/span>

<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div>Comfort on the shop floor - you will spend real time out there<\/span><\/span>

<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div>Preferred<\/span><\/span>

<\/p><\/div>Manufacturing or industrial plant accounting experience - strongly preferred<\/span><\/span>

<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div>Steel fabrication, metal building, or heavy industrial background<\/span><\/span>

<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div>CPA, CMA, or MBA<\/span><\/span>

<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div>Experience in a multi-entity structure with intercompany allocations<\/span><\/span>

<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div>Familiarity with project or percentage-of-completion revenue recognition (ASC 606)<\/span><\/span>

<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div>Experience standing up or improving a costing system, not just <\/span>operating<\/span> one<\/span><\/span>

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