Plant Optimization Engineer Jobs in Wisconsin (NOW HIRING)

The Plant Controller works very closely with the Plant Manager and their management team on a variety of complex and important accounting and business management activities including, but not limited to, financial reporting and budgeting, KPI development and tracking, inventory cost accounting and reporting, standard cost develop and maintenance, manufacturing variance analyses, fixed asset/tooling accounting, and various product/customer/project profitability analyses. Specifically excluded from the scope of this role is accounting and reporting of cash, accounts receivable and accounts payable, which are managed through a shared services organization.

JOB DUTIES & ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Prepares monthly plant financial package and participate in monthly financial review meeting with leadership team.
• Responsible for the regular upkeep and accuracy of financial reporting and balance sheet account reconciliations for all accounts on the facilities trial balance.
• In partnership with Plant Manager and other plant leadership functions, develop and track against the annual budget and periodic forecast updates for their facility, products and customers. Local responsible party for the successful completion of the annual budgeting process resulting in the development of monthly financial statement forecasts (income statement, balance sheet, cash flow and KPIs).
• Responsible for the reconciliation of the inventory subledgers to the general ledger which includes overseeing processes for capture and daily posting of production and inventory transactions.
• Responsible for providing Plant Manager with weekly KPI data that is consistent with other facilities.
• Establishes and maintains the reserves for excess and obsolete inventory. Work in partnership with Operations and Purchasing in the timely disposition of slow-moving and obsolete inventory with a focus on maximum recovery.
• Assists Operations in the development and implementation of annual physical and cycle count procedures, processes and results, with a focus on moving toward the implementation of more frequent cycle counting processes where appropriate.
• Responsible for working with Plant Manager and local operations team to define optimal inventory levels, set period targets for improvement, report on deviations from plan, and assist in establishment of actions for improvement.
• Performs budgeting and cost analyses to develop, recommend and maintain standard material, labor and overhead rates for ERP product costing applications.
• Responsible for review and analysis of New Product BOMs, Engineering Change Notices and overall facility BOM management and associated financial impacts.
• Prepares frequent materials, labor and overhead expense reports and analyses for management consumption and action planning.
• Performs analysis and reporting of manufacturing variances. Actively engages with the Plant Manager and their team to explain manufacturing variances, assist in root cause analysis and issue mitigation.
• Responsible for capital expenditure programs including the setup of those projects, cost tracking against the authorized balance and closure/transfer of assets to the subledger.
• Responsible for providing Sales, Operations and Engineering with calculations and recommendations of inventory/project/customer product costing and related parts sales pricing strategies and target margin achievement.
• Maintains customer sales database and ensure proper sales cutoff and maintenance of sales data with the Sales per the General Ledger. Reviews actual gross margins by customer and by product each period to identify sub-standard profitability, report on the key drivers and assist in the development of improvement plans.
• Assists Sales/Inventory/Operations Planning Manager (SIOP) with sales forecasting, margin analysis and inventory obsolescence review.
• Operates as one of the location ERP experts for purposes of usage, upgrade and maintenance of the facilitys ERP system(s).
• Completes and performs other duties/tasks as may be assigned by the Divisional Controller or Plant Manager.

• Bachelors degree in Accounting, Finance. CPA preferred.
• Five to seven years of previous financial analysis/cost accounting experience in a complex manufacturing environment.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills are required. Data base and reporting/consolidations software a plus. Experience being a power user of ERP systems a plus. Must be able to adapt easily to new software and programs.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate professionally throughout all levels of the organization.
• Team player with demonstrated organizational, leadership and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work independently and to influence others, with strong problem-solving and project management skills.
• Ability to manage multiples priorities and deadlines simultaneously.
• Self-starter with effective decision making and follow-through skills.
• Ability to work effectively with a diverse work group at all levels of the organization.