Plant Controller

Position Summary:

The Plant Controller is a key financial and strategic leader supporting a multi-site manufacturing operation in Thomaston, Watertown, and Waterbury Connecticut. This role ensures accurate financial reporting, strengthens cost discipline, and partners closely with plant leadership to drive operational performance. The Plant Controller provides forward-looking insights, improves forecasting accuracy, enhances controls, and builds financial rigor across the organization.

Key Responsibilities:

Financial Leadership & Reporting:

• Lead plant-level accounting, reporting, and financial control processes across multiple sites.
• Ensure timely and accurate reporting of standard cost, production variances, and KPIs.
• Drive improvements in the monthly close process by increasing accuracy, reducing manual entries, and improving reconciliation quality.
• Partner with Corporate Finance to align reporting, forecasting methods, and internal controls.

Business Partnership & Operations Support:

• Serve as a strategic advisor to plant leadership, translating financial data into operational actions.
• Identify performance gaps and collaborate with operations to develop measurable improvement plans.
• Build strong relationships on the plant floor to understand cost drivers, product flow, and operational constraints.
• Support operational KPI reviews by providing financial insights into yield, scrap, absorption, labor efficiency, and throughput.

Cost Management & Analysis:

• Lead plant budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis; improve forecast accuracy through ground-up modeling.
• Evaluate standard costing, overhead assumptions, and material usage accuracy.
• Provide product costing and margin analysis to support pricing and profitability decisions.
• Identify opportunities for cost reduction and margin improvement across labor, materials, and overhead.

Controls, Compliance & Working Capital:

• Maintain strong internal controls, ensuring compliance with accounting standards and company policy.
• Support internal/external audit requirements and implement corrective action when necessary.
• Improve inventory accuracy, reserve methodology, and slowmoving or obsolete inventory processes.
• Strengthen working capital visibility through cycle count review, aging analysis, and cross-functional accountability.

Capital Planning & Strategic Initiatives:

• Evaluate capital expenditure proposals using disciplined ROI modeling and scenario analysis.
• Implement capital project tracking, postaudit processes, and overspend governance.
• Support long-term financial planning, ERP/data integrity improvements, and automation opportunities.
• Create dashboards and management reporting tools that enhance decision-making at both plant and executive levels.

Leadership & Cultural Impact:

• Act as the financial leader at the plant, promoting transparency, accountability, and factbased decision-making.
• Mentor finance and operations teams to increase financial acumen and understanding of cost drivers.
• Support a collaborative culture by improving communication and fostering cross-functional alignment.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field (CPA, CMA, or MBA preferred).
• 7+ years of progressive finance/accounting experience, with at least 3 years in manufacturing.
• Strong knowledge of cost accounting, standard costing, and variance analysis.
• Proven ability to partner with operations and influence cross-functional teams.
• Experience improving close processes, forecasting, and internal controls.
• Proficiency with SAP ERP System, Excel, and business intelligence tools.

Working Conditions:

• On-site role with regular floor presence.
• Travel required across multiple plant locations (15-25%).

LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMER

The above job description is meant to describe the general nature and level of work being performed; it is not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required for the position.

All job requirements are subject to possible modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities. Some requirements may exclude individuals who pose a direct threat or significant risk to the health and safety of themselves or other employees.

This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee occupying this position. Employees will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform other job-related duties requested by their supervisor in compliance with Federal and State Laws.

Requirements are representative of minimum levels of knowledge, skills and/or abilities. To perform this job successfully, the employee must possess the abilities or aptitudes to perform each duty proficiently. Continued employment remains on an "at-will" basis.

Silgan is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We consider applicants for all positions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, or the presence of a disability, which would not prevent the performance of essential job duties with, or without reasonable accommodation of any other protective status.

Silgan is a drug-free workplace.