Plant Controller

COMPANY INFORMATION: Redwood Beverage Group LLC is a beverage co-packing and manufacturing company focused on producing, packaging, and supporting beverage brands. We operate a production facility in West Sacramento, California, offering services such as bottling, canning, hot-fill and cold fill operations, Tetra Pak packaging, and variety pack assembly.

For additional information, visit our company website: https://redwoodbevgroup.com

Position Summary

The Plant Controller is the financial and administrative leader of the manufacturing facility and serves as the primary liaison between Plant Operations, Sales, Engineering, Supply Chain, Procurement, Distribution, and Corporate Finance. This role is responsible for overseeing all plant-related planning, procurement, inventory management, supply chain coordination, production scheduling support, cost control, and operational financial performance.

Reporting directly to the Finance Controller, the Plant Controller provides financial leadership within the plant while ensuring that operational decisions support customer service, production efficiency, inventory optimization, and profitability. The position requires a strong financial and accounting background combined with practical manufacturing experience, preferably within the beverage bottling, canning, or co-packing industry.

The Plant Controller partners closely with the Plant Operations Manager to ensure the facility has the materials, resources, information, and financial controls necessary to meet production requirements safely, efficiently, and profitably.

Reporting Structure

Reports To: Finance Controller

Key Internal Relationships:

• Plant Operations Manager
• Production Supervisors
• Sales Team
• Engineering Manager
• Distribution Manager
• Quality Assurance Team
• Corporate Finance Team
• Customers and Vendors (as required)

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Financial Leadership & Cost Management

• Serve as the financial representative and business partner for the manufacturing facility.
• Analyze plant operating costs, labor costs, material usage, and manufacturing variances.
• Monitor and report plant performance against budgets, forecasts, and operational KPIs.
• Develop financial analyses to support operational and capital investment decisions.
• Assist in annual budgeting, forecasting, and long-range planning activities.
• Identify cost-saving opportunities throughout procurement, production, warehousing, and distribution processes.
• Support month-end and year-end closing activities related to plant operations.
• Ensure accurate inventory valuation and cost accounting practices. 

Procurement & Supply Chain Management

• Oversee procurement of raw materials, packaging materials, ingredients, consumables, and operating supplies.
• Develop and maintain supplier relationships to ensure quality, reliability, and cost competitiveness.
• Monitor supplier performance and coordinate corrective actions when necessary.
• Ensure adequate inventory levels while minimizing excess inventory and carrying costs.
• Collaborate with vendors to improve lead times, service levels, and overall supply chain performance.
• Support contract negotiations and purchasing strategies.
• Manage purchasing processes and ensure compliance with company policies and controls.

Production Planning & Scheduling Coordination

• Coordinate production planning activities with Operations, Sales, and Supply Chain teams.
• Balance customer demand, production capacity, material availability, and inventory requirements.
• Facilitate regular production planning meetings.
• Identify potential supply constraints and develop mitigation plans.
• Support efficient scheduling of production runs to maximize throughput and minimize changeovers.
• Monitor production plans and adjust schedules as customer requirements or operational conditions change.

Inventory Management

• Maintain oversight of raw material, packaging, work-in-process, and finished goods inventories.
• Ensure inventory accuracy through cycle counts, physical inventories, and reconciliation processes.
• Analyze inventory trends and identify opportunities to reduce waste and working capital requirements.
• Monitor inventory turns, obsolescence, and slow-moving inventory.
• Implement controls to improve inventory visibility and accountability.

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Serve as the primary administrative and business liaison between Production Operations, Sales, Engineering, Distribution, Finance, Procurement, and Supply Chain.
• Ensure alignment between customer demand forecasts and production capabilities.
• Coordinate communication regarding capacity constraints, material shortages, engineering projects, and customer priorities.
• Facilitate resolution of operational issues that impact production schedules, customer deliveries, or financial performance.
• Support new product introductions and customer onboarding initiatives.

Operational Performance & Continuous Improvement

• Develop and maintain operational and financial KPIs.
• Track and report performance metrics including production efficiency, material usage, inventory accuracy, schedule attainment, customer service levels, procurement savings, manufacturing variances, and working capital metrics.
• Participate in continuous improvement initiatives.
• Support implementation of process improvements and systems enhancements.
• Assist with ERP, inventory management, and production planning system optimization.

Compliance & Controls

• Ensure compliance with company financial policies and internal controls.
• Maintain purchasing and inventory control procedures.
• Support audits and inventory verification activities.
• Ensure documentation and recordkeeping meet company and regulatory requirements.
• Promote accountability and financial discipline throughout plant operations.

Qualifications        

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Supply Chain Management, Operations Management, Business Administration, or related field required.
• MBA, CMA, CPA, or related professional certification preferred.

Experience

• 5+ years of progressive experience in manufacturing finance, plant accounting, supply chain, procurement, operations planning, or plant management.
• Experience in beverage manufacturing, bottling, canning, food processing, or contract manufacturing/co-packing strongly preferred.
• Experience with ERP systems and inventory management systems required.
• Experience working in a high-volume manufacturing environment preferred.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strong understanding of manufacturing accounting and cost accounting principles.
• Budgeting, forecasting, and financial analysis expertise.
• Understanding of manufacturing operations and production processes.
• Knowledge of procurement, inventory management, and supply chain planning.
• Strong interpersonal and cross-functional leadership skills.
• Excellent communication and organizational skills.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel proficiency.
• Experience with ERP systems such as SAP, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle, or similar platforms.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Inventory accuracy
• Inventory turns
• Material availability
• Production schedule attainment
• Procurement savings
• Manufacturing cost performance
• Working capital management
• Customer order fulfillment performance
• Budget and forecast accuracy
• Manufacturing variance management
• On-time vendor delivery performance
• Plant profitability metrics

POSITION OBJECTIVE

The Plant Controller ensures that the facility operates with the financial discipline, material availability, planning coordination, and cross-functional alignment necessary to consistently deliver customer orders safely, efficiently, on time, and profitably. This role serves as the bridge between finance and manufacturing, translating operational needs into sound business decisions while supporting the successful execution of production plans.

WORKING CONDITIONS

With or without reasonable accommodation, requires the physical and mental capacity to perform effectively all essential functions.  In addition to other demands, the demands of the job include:

• On-site role in a manufacturing plant environment
• Must be able to work in a fast-paced manufacturing environment
• Must be able to wear or use common protective or safety equipment as needed
• Must be able to stand or sit for extended periods
• Must be able to use hands to handle, control or feel objects, tools or controls for extended periods
• Must be able to work under pressure
• Must be able to understand the importance of being exact or accurate
• Must be comfortable with sounds or noise levels that can be uncomfortable or distracting

Work Environment

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently moving mechanical parts and vibration. The noise level in the work environment and job sites can be loud. 

Physical Demand

• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.
• The employee is occasionally required to sit, climb or balance, and stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl. The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and the ability to adjust focus.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

The Plant Controller will supervise the Procurement, Planning, and Supply Chain departments.

OTHER DUTIES

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.