Controller I- Louisa County Plant

Tyson Foods, Inc.; Columbus Junction (IA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

PTO

401(k) plan

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Job summary

Tyson Foods, Inc. is seeking a Plant Controller to lead the financial performance of the manufacturing facility.

You will partner with the Plant Manager and leadership to translate operations into financial insight, drive accurate reporting, and identify opportunities to improve profitability. You will own annual budgeting, forecasting, and capital analysis, while maintaining strong internal controls and a focus on operational excellence.

Qualifications

• Accredited Bachelor's degree required; Accounting/Finance major preferred; 12 hours minimum Accounting.
• 4+ years supervisory experience.
• Proficient in Microsoft Excel and database systems.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Analytical and data management skills essential.
• Travel: 1-3 domestic trips per year.

Responsibilities

• Own the plant's financial results with weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual reporting.
• Explain performance vs budget, forecast, prior year, and operations expectations.
• Identify financial risks and opportunities and communicate to leadership.
• Ensure understanding of financial impact of operational decisions.
• Provide recommendations beyond reporting.
• Partner with Plant Manager and leadership as a trusted financial advisor.
• Understand plant operations: harvest, production, yields, labor, downtime, maintenance, utilities, warehousing, freight, and other costs.
• Translate production results into financial impact for the business.
• Lead budgeting and forecasting processes.
• Develop realistic volume, labor, yields, expenses, and capital assumptions.
• Maintain monthly outlook for plant performance.
• Update forecasts as conditions change with clear driver communication.
• Partner on capital requests and financial justification; review project assumptions and benefits.
• Monitor completed projects and post-audit actuals vs benefits.
• Maintain internal controls and compliance with company policies.
• Lead, develop, and support the plant Finance team.
• Drive continuous improvement in reporting and financial processes.
• Use Excel, Power BI, ERP/manufacturing systems to improve visibility.

Skills

Excel

Data management

Analytical thinking

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in accounting/finance

Tools

Microsoft Excel

ERP systems

Power BI

Database systems

Job description

Management Level:

86

Work Shift:

A Shift (United States of America)

SUMMARY:

The Plant Controller is the financial leader for the manufacturing facility and serves as a key business partner to the Plant Manager and plant leadership team. This position is responsible for ensuring accurate financial reporting while helping operations understand the financial impact of plant performance and make better business decisions.

The Plant Controller is expected to be actively involved in the operation, understand what is driving results, identify risks and opportunities early, and turn financial and operational data into actionable information.

Plant Financial Leadership

• Own the plant’s financial results, including weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual reporting.
• Provide clear explanations of performance versus budget, forecast, prior year, and operational expectations.
• Identify financial risks and opportunities early and communicate them to plant and Finance leadership.
• Ensure the Plant Manager and leadership team understand the financial impact of operational decisions.
• Provide recommendations, not just reporting of results.

Operational Business Partnership

• Serve as a trusted financial partner to the Plant Manager and plant leadership team.
• Maintain a strong understanding of plant operations, including harvest, production, yields, labor, downtime, maintenance, utilities, warehousing, freight, and other key cost drivers applicable to the facility.
• Spend appropriate time in the operation understanding issues behind the numbers.
• Help operational leaders translate production results into financial impact.
• Challenge assumptions when appropriate and help identify practical opportunities to improve profitability.

Performance Analysis

• Monitor and analyze key plant performance drivers, including: Yield and product recoveryLabor cost, hours, overtime, and staffingProduction volume and throughputPlant operating expensesMaintenance and contract servicesUtilitiesWarehousing and freightInventory and product costCapital spending
• Investigate significant variances and determine the underlying operational or financial cause.
• Develop reporting and analysis that focuses management attention on areas where action can improve results.

Forecasting & Planning

• Lead the plant’s annual budgeting and forecasting processes.
• Partner with operations to develop realistic volume, labor, yield, expense, and capital assumptions.
• Maintain an effective monthly outlook for plant financial performance.
• Update expectations as operating conditions change rather than simply reporting misses after they occur.
• Clearly communicate changes in forecast and the drivers behind those changes.

Capital & Business Cases

• Partner with plant leadership and Engineering on capital requests and financial justification.
• Review project assumptions, expected savings, costs, operational benefits, and payback calculations.
• Challenge assumptions to ensure business cases are realistic and supportable.
• Monitor completed projects and compare actual results against expected benefits through post-audit reviews.

Financial Controls & Accuracy

• Ensure plant financial statements, accruals, inventory, expenses, and other accounting activity are accurate and properly supported.
• Maintain effective internal controls and ensure compliance with company accounting policies and procedures.
• Review unusual transactions, adjustments, inventory issues, or other financial activity requiring additional investigation.
• Support internal and external audit requirements.
• Maintain strong financial discipline without allowing accounting processes to become disconnected from the operation.

Team Leadership

• Lead, develop, and support the plant Finance team.
• Establish clear responsibilities, priorities, and expectations.
• Develop team members’ financial, analytical, operational, and business-partnering capabilities.
• Build appropriate backup and cross-training within the department.
• Create a culture of accountability, accuracy, continuous improvement, and service to the operation.

Continuous Improvement

• Look for opportunities to simplify reporting and financial processes.
• Improve the use of Excel, Power BI, ERP/manufacturing systems, and other available tools to reduce manual work and improve visibility.
• Standardize reporting and processes where practical across plants.
• Focus Finance resources on analysis and decision support rather than simply producing reports.

The Plant Controller is expected to operate as an owner of the business, not simply a reporter of financial results. The Controller should understand the operation, ask questions, challenge assumptions, identify opportunities, and help the plant leadership team make financially sound decisions.

REQUIREMENTS:

Education: Accredited Bachelor s degree required. Accounting Finance major preferred. 12 hours minimum Accounting required.

Experience: 4 plus years supervisory experience; Beef Pork product knowledge or related experience a plus.

Computer Skills: Basic computer skills. Proficient in Microsoft EXCEL and data base systems. Experience with Tyson Fresh Meats yield systems is beneficial.

Communication Skills: Excellent verbal and written communications skills are essential.

Special Skills: Analytical and data management skills are essential. Supervisory: This position is responsible for supervising a management support team member.

Travel: 1-3 domestic trips per year.

A Resume is Required for Review and Consideration for this role.

Internal Management & Management Support Applicants:

Automatic notification to your current manager will be initiated upon selection for interview. This applies to all candidates who are level 79 or above.

All professional team members are expected to demonstrate responsible use of approved AI tools, including safeguarding sensitive information, adhering to company policies, and validating AI-generated outputs. Individual Contributors should demonstrate the ability to integrate AI into daily work, improve efficiency through AI-enabled solutions, evaluate outputs critically, and apply professional judgment when using AI. People Leaders should demonstrate the ability to drive responsible AI adoption, enable effective use of approved solutions, identify opportunities to improve team performance through AI, and ensure accountability for the quality and accuracy of AI-supported outcomes.

Relocation Assistance Eligible:

No

Referral Payout Eligible:

No

For Professional Management levels, internal applicants should either upload a resume to their application OR complete their application fully showing current and past work experience in the sections provided.

The successful candidate(s) must be willing and able to perform the physical requirements of the job with or without a reasonable accommodation.

We provide our team members and their families with paid time off; 401(k) plans; affordable health, life, dental, vision and prescription drug benefits; and more.

Tyson is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, national origin, color, religion, age, genetics, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or veteran status.

CCPA Notice. If you are a California resident, and would like to learn more about what categories of personal information we collect when you apply for this job, and how we may use that information, please read our CCPA Job Applicant Notice at Collection, click here.