Plant Controller

About Us:

Carl Buddig and Company, a respected name in the meat manufacturing industry, boasts a legacy of over 80 years. Founded as a family-owned company, we have evolved into a leading producer of premium meat products, including renowned lunch meats, ready-to-eat cooked meats under our Kingsford, LLC division, and savory snack meats from Old Wisconsin.

As a third-generation family business, our success is anchored in our commitment to quality, innovation, and community. With a workforce of 2,500 dedicated team members spread across Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana, we continue to expand, driven by a vision for excellence and a responsiveness to evolving consumer preferences.

At Carl Buddig and Company, we foster a culture centered around teamwork and innovation. We strive to create an environment that values creativity and collaboration, ensuring every team member is empowered to contribute to our collective goals.

Our dedication extends beyond our business operations. We actively support charitable initiatives and community organizations through direct contributions, volunteer work, and partnerships. We aim to make a positive impact and give back to the communities that have supported us over the years.

Join us at Carl Buddig and Company, where tradition meets innovation, and where our passion for quality meat products is matched by our commitment to our people and communities.

Position Summary:

The Plant Controller is a highly visible finance leadership role responsible for operational accounting, cost control, inventory integrity, financial performance support, and finance process transformation for two food manufacturing facilities. This position serves as the key finance business partner to plant leadership, operations, supply chain, IT, and corporate finance and accounting, with particular emphasis on lunchmeat operations. The role will be split between the corporate office in Tinley Park, Illinois and the plant locations in Montgomery and South Holland, Illinois, requiring regular on-site presence to understand operations, build strong relationships, and drive accountability at the floor level.

The Plant Controller will lead the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of financial processes, systems, reporting, controls, and process flows that improve data reliability, strengthen integration between systems, support sound decision-making, and improve operational performance. This individual must be comfortable leading change, mapping current-state and future-state processes, translating business requirements into system and reporting needs, and partnering across functions to implement scalable solutions.

The ideal candidate will bring a hands-on, collaborative leadership style, strong cultural fit, high integrity, and the ability to influence across functions while reinforcing a culture of ownership, accountability, continuous improvement, and respect. This role reports directly to the Vice President of Finance and Accounting.

Key Responsibilities:

Controls and Analysis:

Proficient in the application of US GAAP.Maintain integrity of inventory by implementing controls, overseeing monthly and annual inventory counts, and developing processes to increase inventory accuracy.

Build a deep understanding of plant layouts, production flows, labor and yield drivers, inventory movement, systems, and standards by spending meaningful time on-site at the Montgomery and South Holland facilities.

Assess current accounting operations, process flows, system touchpoints, and data handoffs; leverage technology to recommend and implement practical improvements that strengthen controls, increase data reliability, reduce manual work, and improve decision support for plant and corporate leadership.

Act as the point of contact with external auditors and coordinate audit activities and documentation for lunchmeat plant operational activities.

Analyze and accurately report operational financial results to the business units and corporate management.

Establish, monitor, and reinforce operational KPIs with plant leadership, helping translate financial results into clear actions that improve cost, yield, labor efficiency, waste, and inventory performance.

Responsible for cost analysis and reporting: analyze costs, prepare variance reports, and provide insights to optimize profitability.

Develop and monitor operational business performance metrics.

Serve as a trusted finance partner who is comfortable moving between conference-room…