Controller, Plant & Manufacturing Operations - Confidential #7c81

Location: Monterey County, California | Onsite, Full-Time

Reports to: Chief Financial Officer 

THE OPPORTUNITY 

Most accounting roles hand you a slice of the business. This one hands you the whole chain. 

An established, privately held fresh food company on California’s Central Coast is hiring a Controller for its processing operation. The company grows a substantial share of its own raw product and processes it in-house - which means the Controller sees the full economics of a case of finished goods, from the grower settlement through conversion, labor, and yield, all the way to the customer. Very few companies in this industry are built to give one finance leader that complete a view. Fewer still hand that leader the authority to reshape how the plant uses it. 

The business is stable, growing, and actively investing in the cost, yield, and labor reporting infrastructure needed to run the plant with far sharper visibility than it has today. You will build it - not inherit someone else’s version of it. 

This is not a back-office job. The Controller will spend real time on the production floor alongside plant and operations leadership, learning where margin is won or lost and turning that understanding into numbers people actually run the plant by. Expect direct access to the CFO and the executive team, and a short line between the analysis you produce and the decisions it changes. If you want operational finance rather than stewardship accounting, this is that seat. 

WHAT YOU WILL OWN 

Operational & Cost Finance 

• Act as the accounting function’s primary partner to plant and production leadership, with regular, hands-on presence in the facility. 
• Build and maintain daily and weekly yield, throughput, and cost reporting that surfaces deviations fast enough for operations to correct them. 
• Analyze processing yields, waste and shrink, and conversion costs by product line and by shift; work with operations to identify root causes and track corrective actions to completion. 
• Develop standard-versus-actual variance reporting by product line and escalate material movement to the CFO and plant leadership. 
• Own a direct labor performance dashboard - labor cost per unit, efficiency, overtime - and turn it into decisions, not just reports. 
• Deliver product-line and customer profitability analysis to guide pricing, mix, and capital decisions. Accounting Operations 
• Lead all accounting operations, including accounts payable, grower accounting and raw product settlements, inventory, and the general ledger. 
• Design and continuously strengthen accounting policies, procedures, and internal controls. 
• Own the month-end and year-end close, driving both speed and accuracy. 
• Supervise, coach, and develop the accounting team. 

Reporting, Planning & Compliance 

• Prepare and present financial statements, budgets, forecasts, and variance analysis to senior leadership. 
• Ensure compliance with GAAP, company policy, and applicable regulatory requirements. 
• Serve as the principal point of contact for external auditors, tax advisors, and banking partners. 
• Direct operational and production KPI reporting across the business.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE IN YEAR ONE 

• You are known on the plant floor, and operations leadership comes to you for numbers before they make decisions. 
• Daily and weekly yield and cost reporting is live, trusted, and used in production meetings. 
• Standard costs have been refreshed and variance reporting is running by product line. 
• A labor productivity dashboard is in production and informing scheduling and staffing. 
• The close is faster and cleaner than it was when you arrived. 

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR 

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field. CPA, CMA, or MBA is a plus. 
• Eight or more years of progressive accounting experience, including three to five years leading a team. 
• Demonstrated cost accounting depth in a manufacturing or processing environment - standard costing, bills of material, yield and labor variance analysis. This is the core of the role. 
• Genuine comfort in a plant environment and the credibility to work shoulder-to-shoulder with operations and production leaders. 
• Strong ERP and business intelligence capability, with the ability to build reporting rather than wait for it to be built. The company runs Famous alongside other reporting and analytics tools; Famous experience is a plus, but candidates who have built cost and yield reporting in any major ERP environment are encouraged to apply. 
• Advanced Excel and strong overall Microsoft Office proficiency. 
• Clear, direct communication with both finance and non-finance audiences. 
• A self-starter who is organized, detail-oriented, and comfortable owning outcomes with limited hand-holding. Strongly Preferred 
• Food processing, perishable manufacturing, or agribusiness experience. 
• Familiarity with grower accounting, raw product settlements, or grower-owned processing models. 
• Experience in a performance-improvement, restructuring, or systems-build environment. 
• Bilingual English/Spanish. 
• Willingness to travel occasionally as the business requires. 

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS 

• Competitive base salary commensurate with experience, plus an annual performance bonus.
• Full benefits package including medical, dental, and vision coverage, retirement plan with company contribution, and paid time off.
• Relocation assistance is available for the right candidate.

This is a confidential search. The hiring company will be identified to candidates who advance in the process. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and all inquiries will be handled discreetly.