Controller I- Louisa County Plant

0045 Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc.; Columbus Junction (IA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off

401(k) plans

Health, life, dental, vision and Rx

Job summary

Tyson Foods is seeking a Plant Controller to lead the facility's financials and partner with the Plant Manager to translate operations into actionable financial insights.

You will own reporting, budgeting, forecasting, and capital analyses, ensuring controls and accuracy across costs, yields, and production. This role demands strong leadership, analytical rigor, and a hands-on operations mindset.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance required; 12 hours of Accounting minimum.
• Experience and knowledge preferred in heavy manufacturing or meat industry.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills are essential.
• Strong analytical and data management capabilities are required.

Responsibilities

• Own the plant's financial results with weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual reporting.
• Explain performance vs. budget, forecast and prior year to leadership.
• Identify financial risks and opportunities and communicate them to Plant leadership.
• Partner with Plant Manager as a trusted financial business partner.
• Monitor key drivers: yield, labor, volume, expenses, maintenance, utilities and inventory.
• Lead annual budgeting and rolling forecasting with operations to set realistic assumptions.
• Develop business cases for capital projects and perform post-audit reviews.
• Maintain internal controls and ensure compliance with policies and audit requirements.

Skills

Communication

Analytical thinking

Data management

Leadership

Financial acumen

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Accounting/Finance

12 hours Accounting required

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Database systems

Yield systems

Job description

Job Details

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 recovery
• Labor cost, hours, overtime, and staffing
• Production volume and throughput
• Plant operating expenses
• Maintenance and contract services
• Utilities
• Warehousing and freight
• Inventory and product cost
• Capital 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.

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 Work Shift: A Shift (United States of America)

Certain roles at Tyson require background checks.

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

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.

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.

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Our team members make the difference. If you are ready to grow your career with an industry leader and want to positively impact the team and community around you, then join us in helping us in raising expectations. Join us on the journey. At Tyson, we feed the world like family. Our Talent Strategy is to Attract, Grow, Reward and Retain the best talent, and we believe that our Culture is the connecting thread that drives that strategy! We strive to be a talent magnet to establish a reputation for being a talent rich organization where team members can grow their career while growing the business. We are a high performing organization where team members are rewarded (Pay, Benefits and Recognition) for their contributions, and given the opportunity to support and/or volunteer with programs that help Tyson make a lasting social impact in the communities where we live and work. To learn more about our culture, please read Our Purpose.

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

Tyson Foods, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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