Plant Controller Melrose, MN

Plant Controller is responsible for leading all accounting, financial reporting, cost accounting, budgeting, and internal control functions for a high-volume turkey processing facility. This role serves as a key business partner to plant operations, providing financial insight and analysis that drives profitability, operational efficiency, yield optimization, and strategic decision‑making.

The ideal candidate possesses a strong manufacturing accounting background with extensive experience in cost accounting, inventory management, production reporting, and financial analysis within a food processing, protein, agricultural, or manufacturing environment.

Located in Melrose, MN, Legacy Turkey employs many people in a variety of roles with varying levels of expertise. We hire individuals with a strong work ethic who align with our core values.

• Direct all plant accounting activities, ensuring accurate and timely financial reporting.
• Prepare monthly, quarterly, and annual financial statements and management reports.
• Analyze financial performance, identify trends, and provide actionable recommendations to leadership.
• Lead month‑end and year‑end closing processes, including journal entries, reconciliations, and accruals.
• Ensure compliance with GAAP, company policies, and regulatory requirements.
• Support external audits, internal audits, and corporate reporting requirements.

• Maintain and oversee standard costing systems for live production, processing, packaging, and distribution activities.
• Analyze variances related to labor, overhead, yields, material usage, and production efficiency.
• Monitor turkey processing yields, by‑product recovery, shrinkage, and waste to identify improvement opportunities.
• Manage inventory accounting, including raw materials, work‑in‑process, finished goods, packaging materials, and supplies.
• Conduct and oversee physical inventory counts and cycle count programs.
• Ensure accurate valuation of inventories and cost allocations across products and departments.

• Partner with plant management to evaluate operational performance and drive cost improvement initiatives.
• Develop and monitor key performance indicators related to production, labor efficiency, yields, throughput, and profitability.
• Provide financial analysis supporting capital expenditures, process improvements, and operational investments.
• Assist operations leadership in understanding financial impacts of production decisions and performance metrics.
• Identify opportunities to improve margins through cost control, efficiency gains, and yield optimization.

• Lead annual budgeting and periodic forecasting processes for the facility.
• Develop labor, overhead, production, and capital expenditure budgets.
• Monitor performance against budget and provide variance analysis with corrective action recommendations.
• Support long‑range planning and profitability analysis.

• Establish and maintain strong internal controls over financial reporting, inventory, cash management, and purchasing.
• Ensure compliance with company policies and applicable financial regulations.
• Monitor and improve financial processes to enhance accuracy, efficiency, and accountability.
• Evaluate risks and implement corrective measures where necessary.

• Lead and develop plant accounting staff.
• Provide coaching, mentoring, and performance management.
• Foster a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and operational partnership.
• Collaborate effectively with corporate finance, operations, procurement, and supply chain teams.

• Proficiency in logistics and inventory management systems

• Strong knowledge of GAAP and financial reporting requirements.
• Advanced cost accounting expertise, including standard costing, variance analysis, yield reporting, and inventory valuation.
• Experience with ERP systems and manufacturing reporting platforms.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel and financial modeling skills.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving capabilities.

• 5-7+ years of progressive accounting and finance experience.
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