Senior Consultant – Global Plant Operations Finance

Title: Senior Consultant, Global Plant Operations Finance
Reports to: VP of Operational Finance
Location: Downers Grove, IL.
Compensation: Competitive hourly rate; access to healthcare, dental and vision insurance plus 401K
Chamberlain is currently conducting a search for a Senior Consultant Global Plant Operations Finance who will have leadership responsibility over several manufacturing plants located both domestically and international.

The Senior Consultant of Global Plant Operations Finance will manage a team of financial staff members and will be accountable for general accounting, cost accounting, bill of materials, business analysis, operational improvement, and financial reporting among other plant controlling responsibilities globally.

This is a contract based opportunity with the possibility of converting to a full time employee for the right individual.
Summary Of Position Objectives
Lead financial advisor for several plants both domestic and international.

Partners closely with local management personnel with a focus on increasing operational efficiencies and profitability of our client.

Provide the analysis to support business activities and ensure capital investments at the plants meet the required return thresholds of the company.

Advise and support the plants on all financial matters including adherence to goals & budgets.

This includes forecasting activities (annual budget, monthly financial forecasts, weekly labor, and spending controls) as well as the typical month end reporting of actual results.

Working with the local teams, propose, implement, and track conversion cost reductions.

As a leadership team member, partner closely with local finance & operations teams, participate & prepare for business reviews with corporate management and local plant staff.

Direct the financial functions and assure compliance with established procedures, administering accounting and financial controls.

Develop growth objectives for direct and indirect operational finance / plant finance team members and track status during the year.

Provide thoughtful, concise, and timely communication to management to allow strategies to be proactively pursued.
Detailed Position Responsibilities
30%
– Daily Operational & Project Support
Support operations with labor utilization, spending, and productivity measures (statistics and dollar impact).

Transaction processing required of the controller (authorization of transactions as required) Ensure completion of necessary tasks related to inventory control, receipts processing, and shipment activities.

Supervision / support of the local Finance teams.

Monthly closing process and subsequent reporting.

This will include period reporting to the local management teams as well as periodic business reviews with Corporate personnel.

Staff development, to include setting periodic growth objectives and monitoring performance against the plan.

Supervise and train personnel in their area of responsibility.

30%
– Plant Forecasting & Plant Accounting,
Responsible for forecasting activities (variable depending on the time of the year; substantially more in preparation of the annual budget).

This includes the monthly forecast submission to Corporate.

Develop accurate predictive analysis tools to assist the plant in controlling spending and labor costs.

Standard cost accounting, analysis and reporting of daily production, purchase price variances, raw material yields, filling yields, production put-away losses, expense budget variances, and related information.

Manage cost-related reserves, perform reconciliations, and develop cost estimates for new product initiatives.

Own financial closing process, monthly; analyze results, assess risks and opportunities, and produce a forecast of performance for the remainder of the year.

Financial Reporting and Analysis, payback analysis, capex major rebuilds, etc.

Following GAAP & IFRS requirements produce financial reports, analysis and support critical business decisions.

30%
– Financial Operations & Profit Improvement “Treasure Hunter”
Improved profitability is a key objective of all company personnel.

This position has the unique opportunity to support and grow the profitability of two manufacturing facilities.

As the local teams evaluate alternative actions, the Plant Controller will shape decisions that will impact multiple millions of dollars of capital investment and set strategies that will result in higher levels of sales, production and working capital investment.

In a partnership with business leaders responsible for plant P&L; identify, analyze, recommend, and promote, opportunities & change that will have a positive impact on plant profitability for both locations.

Profit improvement efforts will include study & evaluation, data analysis, and setting up processes & procedures to track the execution of major capital investment projects.

Identify financial operational inefficiencies and business processes that can be improved with automation in an effort to reduce manual tasks.

Ensure that the identified alternatives and opportunities take into consideration the project management required to ensure activities are supported and sustainable from a system and internal control perspective.

Identify and monitor local, state, or federal tax credits and other incentives that become available and then aggressively go after these incentives ie.

Training grants, enterprise zone tax reduction, energy credits, etc.

10%
– Internal Controls, SOX Compliance, and Inventory Control Support
Support plant finance in executing and achieving SOX compliance (Support rather than do).

When necessary support corporate finance & accounting departments with SOX Audits and related questions for each plant.

Support and reporting for annual physical inventory and cycle counts.

Ensure Inventory costing accuracy including calculation of labor and overhead rates.
Education & Qualifications
Ideal candidate will possess a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or related discipline.

A Master’s degree or CPA is preferred.

Minimum of 5
– 7 years of experience as Plant or Corporate Controller in a manufacturing environment and strong planning and organizational skills.

Knowledge of GAAP / IFRS financial and accounting principles and internal control procedures.

Manufacturing and cost accounting experience required.

Lean manufacturing and Six Sigma experience preferable.

Excellent computer skills
– Excel spreadsheet development, Word and Outlook, etc.

Experience with a Major ERP is required.

SAP is preferred, however experience with Oracle or equivalent enterprise ERP will suffice.

SAP Financial Accounting (FI), SAP Materials Management (MM), SAP Business Warehouse (BW) data warehousing, SAP Profitability Analysis CO-PA a plus.

Skill in analyzing continuous quality improvement needs and opportunities and implementing responsive strategies and procedures.

Ability to manage a variety of tasks simultaneously.

Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedures.