Production Controller

place
46563 Plymouth  20.08.2026 business Zentis North America

Job Title

Production Controller

Job Description

At Zentis - We are Fruit Masters!

Zentis is Europe's number one fruit processing company and one of the leading brand manufacturers of jams, sweets, and custard-based desserts. The Company's North America operations are located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Plymouth, Indiana, where we produce fruit and dairy preparations for a variety of customers including yogurt, ice cream and bakery manufacturers. We are currently looking to recruit a Production Controller for our Plymouth location.

The Production Controller serves as the key finance business partner to manufacturing operations, responsible for providing financial leadership, cost analysis, and operational insights that optimize production performance and profitability. This role focuses on labor productivity, production line efficiency, manufacturing cost management, staffing models, loss reduction, and continuous improvement initiatives while ensuring accurate financial reporting and strong internal controls across the plant.

The Production Controller collaborates closely with Production, Operations, Supply Chain, Engineering, Human Resources, and Plant Leadership to identify cost-saving opportunities, improve manufacturing efficiencies, reduce production losses, and support strategic decision-making through data-driven analysis. In addition to traditional plant controlling responsibilities, this position plays a critical role in evaluating labor deployment, production economics, and operational performance to maximize productivity and financial results.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Production Cost Management & Analysis
  • Lead the analysis and reporting of production costs, including direct labor, indirect labor, manufacturing overhead, utilities, consumables, and other non-personnel production expenses.
  • Monitor and analyze manufacturing variances, including labor, efficiency, waste, yield, scrap, and overhead absorption.
  • Develop cost models to evaluate production processes, product profitability, and operational performance.
  • Provide actionable recommendations to improve cost competitiveness and margin performance.
• Production Line Staffing & Labor Optimization
  • Develop, maintain, and validate production line staffing models based on throughput, production requirements, labor standards, and operating conditions.
  • Analyze labor productivity, utilization, and workforce efficiency across manufacturing operations.
  • Partner with Operations and Human Resources to identify opportunities for workforce optimization and labor cost reduction.
  • Assess overtime trends, staffing requirements, labor deployment, and resource allocation to improve productivity and service levels.
• Manufacturing Efficiency & Continuous Improvement
  • Monitor key production performance indicators such as labor efficiency, OEE, throughput, yield, scrap, downtime, and capacity utilization.
  • Identify and quantify opportunities to improve operational efficiency and reduce manufacturing costs.
  • Measure and validate financial benefits from operational improvement projects.
• Business Partnership & Decision Support
  • Act as the primary finance partner to Plant Management and Production Leadership.
  • Present operational and financial performance insights to plant leadership teams.
  • Translate manufacturing performance metrics into financial impacts and business recommendations.
  • Drive accountability for productivity, efficiency, and cost management targets across the organization.
• Cost Savings & Productivity Programs
  • Identify, evaluate, and prioritize production-related cost reduction opportunities.
  • Develop financial business cases supporting productivity investments, automation projects, and process improvements.
  • Track and report realized savings against approved targets.
  • Support capital expenditure evaluations through ROI, payback, NPV, and productivity analyses.
• Plant Controlling & Financial Stewardship
  • Support in Plant controlling leadership including budgeting, forecasting, month-end close, financial reporting, and variance analysis.
  • Ensure accurate inventory valuation, standard costing, product costing, and manufacturing accounting processes.
  • Monitor inventory levels, production variances, and manufacturing cost performance.
  • Support annual operating plans and long-range financial planning processes.
• Compliance, Controls & Governance
  • Maintain strong internal controls and compliance with company policies and accounting standards.
  • Support internal and…