Plant Controller

Socket.dev; Beulaville (NC); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Leggett & Platt seeks a Plant Controller – Manufacturing Finance to own the cost model integrity and partner with plant operations. You will govern master data including BOMs, routings, and standard costs, while driving costing accuracy and profitability analyses across manufacturing sites.

You’ll collaborate with Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Purchasing, Sales, and IT to improve systems and cost visibility, supporting month-end close, budgeting, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance.
• 5+ years of progressive finance or accounting experience within a manufacturing environment.
• Strong knowledge of standard costing, cost accounting, inventory valuation, and manufacturing finance.
• Demonstrated understanding of manufacturing processes, bills of material, routings, labor standards, and ERP master data.
• Advanced analytical and Excel skills.
• Experience partnering with Operations and Engineering to solve business problems.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Own the integrity and accuracy of the Company’s manufacturing cost model.
• Ensure bills of material, routings, labor standards, work centers, machine rates, overhead rates, and standard costs accurately reflect manufacturing operations.
• Lead standard cost development, annual cost rolls, and ongoing cost maintenance.
• Establish governance processes to ensure engineering and manufacturing changes are reflected within the ERP system.
• Perform routine audits of manufacturing master data and drive corrective actions.
• Develop processes that improve the long-term accuracy and sustainability of product costing.
• Analyze manufacturing variances and identify profitability improvement opportunities.
• Develop KPIs and dashboards supporting productivity, scrap, utilization, and operational performance.
• Provide financial insights supporting investments and continuous improvement.
• Ensure the cost foundation supporting quoting and profitability analysis remains accurate.
• Partner with Engineering to translate designs into ERP master data.
• Collaborate with Operations to improve manufacturing efficiency and costs.
• Support Supply Chain and Purchasing by analyzing material costs and sourcing.
• Work with IT to improve ERP functionality, reporting, and data integrity.
• Serve as the finance subject matter expert on manufacturing costing.

Skills

Manufacturing finance

Cost accounting

ERP master data

Excel (advanced)

Analytical skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance

Tools

SAP

Infor Visual ERP

Power BI

Job description

We make life more comfortable.

Leggett & Platt’s overall mission is a commitment to enhance lives – by delivering quality products, offering empowering and rewarding careers, and doing our part in bringing about a better future.

Leggett & Platt’s inventive heritage and leadership span more than 130 years. Leggett & Platt has divisions that design, manufacture, and sell a variety of products for all areas of life. Our reliable product development and launch capability, coupled with our global footprint, make us a trusted partner for customers in the automotive, furniture, hydraulic cylinders, flooring, textile and geo components industries.

Learn more about the history of Leggett & Platt: https://leggett.com/history

Precision Hydraulic Cylinders

Precision Hydraulic Cylinders is committed to providing comprehensive design, service, and support to OEM’s during all phases of development, testing, and production to ensure smooth integration and superior product performance.

As leading providers of a wide variety of hydraulic cylinders, we operate within a global marketplace. Offering all our OEM clients a customized solution, we pride ourselves on being able to tailor what we do to meet the changing needs of our clients. Whether you need a change in volume or a tighter deadline, we will always do our utmost to get the job done to the highest possible standard.

Learn more about Precision Hydraulic Cylinders: https://phc-global.com/

This role can sit either in Beulaville, NC or Wilmington, NC

Position Summary

The Plant Controller – Manufacturing Finance is a key finance leader responsible for ensuring the integrity of the Company’s manufacturing cost model while serving as the financial business partner to plant operations. This role owns the financial governance of manufacturing master data—including bills of material, routings, labor standards, machine rates, and overhead structures—to ensure product costs accurately reflect how products are manufactured.

This position partners closely with Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Purchasing, Sales, and IT to improve costing accuracy, profitability, and operational decision-making. The role also supports financial reporting, internal controls, and accounting activities.

The successful candidate combines strong manufacturing finance expertise with technical curiosity, operational understanding, and a passion for improving systems and business processes.

Why This Role?

This position offers an opportunity to make a significant impact on plant profitability while developing into a broader finance leadership role. The successful candidate will work closely with Operations leadership and senior finance management, gaining exposure to both manufacturing finance and corporate controllership responsibilities with a clear path for future advancement.

Primary Responsibilities

Manufacturing Costing & Data Governance

• Own the integrity and accuracy of the Company’s manufacturing cost model.
• Ensure bills of material, routings, labor standards, work centers, machine rates, overhead rates, and standard costs accurately reflect manufacturing operations.
• Lead standard cost development, annual cost rolls, and ongoing cost maintenance.
• Establish governance processes to ensure engineering and manufacturing changes are appropriately reflected within the ERP system.
• Perform routine audits of manufacturing master data and drive corrective actions.
• Develop processes that improve the long-term accuracy and sustainability of product costing.

Manufacturing Analytics & Profitability

• Analyze manufacturing variances, including labor, material, overhead, purchase price, and production variances.
• Identify profitability improvement opportunities through detailed cost and margin analysis.
• Develop KPIs and dashboards supporting labor productivity, scrap, material utilization, and operational performance.
• Provide financial insights supporting capital investments, continuous improvement initiatives, and operational decision-making.
• Ensure the cost foundation supporting commercial quoting and profitability analysis remains accurate and reliable.

Cross-Functional Business Partnership

• Partner with Engineering to ensure product designs and manufacturing changes are accurately translated into ERP master data.
• Collaborate with Operations to improve manufacturing efficiency and eliminate cost drivers.
• Support Supply Chain and Purchasing by analyzing material cost trends and sourcing opportunities.
• Work closely with IT to improve ERP functionality, reporting, automation, and data integrity.
• Serve as the finance subject matter expert on manufacturing costing throughout the organization.

Financial Reporting & Controller Development

• Support month-end close activities, account reconciliations, inventory valuation, and financial reporting.
• Assist with budgeting, forecasting, and annual operating plans.
• Ensure compliance with accounting policies, internal controls, and audit requirements.
• Gradually assume broader accounting and financial leadership responsibilities from the U.S. Controller.

Continuous Improvement

• Lead initiatives that improve costing accuracy, reporting efficiency, and financial visibility.
• Simplify manual processes through automation and improved system utilization.
• Develop standardized costing methodologies and governance practices that can be consistently applied across manufacturing locations.
• Drive a culture of continuous improvement by leveraging data to identify and implement operational and financial enhancements.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance.
• 5+ years of progressive finance or accounting experience within a manufacturing environment.
• Strong knowledge of standard costing, cost accounting, inventory valuation, and manufacturing finance. Ideal candidate has experience with actual costing.
• Demonstrated understanding of manufacturing processes, bills of material, routings, labor standards, and ERP master data.
• Advanced analytical and Excel skills.
• Experience partnering with Operations and Engineering to solve business problems.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence cross-functional teams.

Preferred

• Experience with SAP, Infor Visual ERP, or similar ERP systems.
• Experience supporting ERP implementations or manufacturing system improvements.
• Power BI or other business intelligence experience.
• Lean Manufacturing or Continuous Improvement experience.

Our Values

• Put People First reflects our commitment to safety and care of each other, learning and development, and creating an environment of mutual respect, empathy and belonging.
• Do the Right Thing focuses us on acting with honesty and integrity, delivering the results the right way, taking pride in our work, and speaking the truth – good or bad.
• Do Great Work…Together occurs when we engage without hierarchy, collaborate as a team, embrace challenges, and work for the good of all of us.
• Take Ownership and Raise the Bar demonstrates our responsibility to add value and make a difference, challenge the status quo and biases to make things better, foster innovative and creative solutions to drive impact, and explore new perspectives and embrace change.

Our Commitment to You

We're actively taking steps to make sure our culture, processes and practices promote equal opportunity for all. Join us!

We welcome and encourage all applicants to apply. We’d love the opportunity to consider you.

Equal Employment Opportunity/Veterans/Disability Employer

For more information about how we handle your personal data in connection with our recruiting processes, please refer to the Recruiting Privacy Notice on the “Privacy Notice” tab located at http://privacy.leggett.com