Plant Controller

Job description

Be an essential element to a brighter future. We work together to transform essential resources into critical ingredients for mobility, energy, connectivity and health. Join our values-led organization committed to building a more resilient world with people and planet in mind. Our [core values](https://www.albemarle.com/about/our-values) are the foundation that make us successful for ourselves, our customers and the planet. **Job Description** We work together to transform essential resources into critical ingredients for mobility, energy, connectivity and health. Join our values-led organization committed to building a more resilient world with people and planet in mind. Our core values are the foundation that make us successful for ourselves, our customers and the planet. Albemarle is hiring for a **Plant Controller**. This position is located in Magnolia, AR , on-site. **What You Will Do** The Plant Controller is the senior finance leader and trusted business partner for the Magnolia site. As a core member of plant leadership, this role owns plant financial performance and drives disciplined, fact-based decision-making. You will translate operational and financial data into actionable insights that improve cost, cash, productivity, and profitability. - Serve as the **finance co-pilot to plant leadership**, partnering closely with the Plant Manager and operations leaders to drive financial accountability, cost discipline, and informed decision-making. - Own plant financial planning and performance, including **budgeting, forecasting, manufacturing accounting, standard costing, inventory valuation, cost and margin analysis, and financial reporting**. - Lead accurate and timely **month-end, quarter-end, and year-end close**, including reconciliations, accruals, inventory accounting, and variance reporting. - Establish a rigorous **cost-management cadence**, connecting key operational drivers such as volume, yield, material usage, labor, maintenance, energy, downtime, and overhead to financial results. - Analyze performance against budget, forecast, and prior year; identify **root causes, risks, opportunities, and corrective actions** for unfavorable variances and cost leakage. - Lead the **Annual Operating Plan, rolling forecasts, scenario analysis, and predictive insights** to improve forecast accuracy and identify cost, margin, and cash risks early. - Partner with operations, supply chain, maintenance, engineering, procurement, and commercial teams to **improve productivity, working capital, inventory, and cash performance**. - Evaluate **capital projects and productivity initiatives**, including assumptions, cash flow, returns, risks, alternatives, and post-investment benefits. - Develop driver-based models, dashboards, and automated reporting using **SAP, Excel, and applicable business-intelligence tools**, creating reliable and transparent financial insights. - Strengthen **data quality and governance**, particularly SAP production, purchasing, costing, and master data, while identifying opportunities to simplify processes and reduce manual work. - Ensure compliance with **US GAAP, SOX, company policies, and internal controls**, including coordination of audits and timely resolution of findings. - Communicate complex financial and operational topics in clear, practical terms and **influence cross-functional decisions without relying on formal authority**. **It’d be great if you also have:** - Demonstrated track record of driving measurable cost reduction, stronger cost ownership, and improved plant profitability in a complex manufacturing environment. - Outstanding analytical ability: rapidly structures ambiguous problems, interrogates large data sets, detects patterns and anomalies, tests assumptions, and converts findings into action. - Highly technical and hands-on, with the curiosity and persistence to trace results through operational data, systems, and plant-floor drivers. - Deep expertise in manufacturing finance, financial planning and analysis, cost and margin analysis, and business performance management. - Strong business judgment and constructive challenge; comfortable taking a clear position, escalating issues, and holding peers accountable while building trusted relationships. - Exceptional accuracy, structured thinking, attention to detail, and ability to deliver under tight deadlines without losing sight of business priorities. - Clear, concise communicator who can translate complex finance and data topics for operators, engineers, executives and auditors. - Continuous-improvement mindset, high learning agility, and the capacity to grow into broader finance leadership roles. **What You Bring** **Required:** - Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Business, Engineering, or a related quantitative discipline; advanced degree preferred. - Minimum 8 years of progressive finance or accounting experience, including at least 5 years in FP&A, plant controlling, manufacturing finance, or site finance business partnering. - Advanced SAP expertise—particularly FI/COPA, MM, Purchasing, and production data—with the ability to extract, analyze, and interpret operational and financial data independently. - Expert-level Excel and financial-modeling skills; practical experience building automated, auditable analyses and dashboards in business-intelligence tools. Power BI, Analysis for Office, SQL, or equivalent data-query capability is strongly preferred. - Strong command of manufacturing variance analysis, forecasting, driver-based planning, and capital evaluation, and financial controls. - CPA, CMA, CFA, or MBA preferred; Lean Six Sigma or other continuous-improvement training is an advantage. - Fluent written and spoken English and the ability to operate effectively in a matrix organization **Benefits of joining Albemarle** - Competitive compensation - Comprehensive benefits package - A diverse array of resources to support you professionally and personally. We are partners to one another in pioneering new ways to be better for ourselves, our teams, and our communities. When you join Albemarle, you become our most essential element and you can anticipate competitive compensation, a comprehensive package, and resources that foster your well-being and fuel your personal growth. Help us shape the future, build with purpose and grow together. **Be an essential element to a brighter future**. #LI-JH3 Magnolia site employees should be aware of both the Albemarle Magnolia Site Quality Policy and the Albemarle Magnolia Site Quality Objectives plus understand how their role contributes to each. Employees are required to follow and support the requirements of our quality management system which is available on the ISO Sync site and can be accessed through Albert by all site workers. **Benefits of Joining Albemarle** - Competitive compensation - Comprehensive benefits package - A diverse array of resources to support you professionally and personally. We are partners to one another in pioneering new ways to be better for ourselves, our teams, and our communities. When you join Albemarle, you become our most essential element and you can anticipate competitive compensation, a comprehensive benefits package, and resources that foster your well-being and fuel your personal growth. Help us shape the future, build with purpose and grow together.