Plant Controller

Plant Controller – Mexico Manufacturing Operations

Location:
Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico Work Arrangement: Hybrid Reports To: Chief Financial Officer – United States Experience Required: Minimum 10 years of progressive accounting and finance experience ERP: Acumatica experience preferred Position Summary We are seeking an experienced Plant Controller to lead the financial and accounting activities of our manufacturing operation in Guadalajara, Mexico. This is a senior, hands-on finance role responsible for maintaining strong financial controls, delivering accurate and timely financial reporting, managing plant accounting and costing, and serving as the primary financial liaison between the Mexico operation and the U.
S.-based Chief Financial Officer and team. The ideal candidate has significant experience working within a multinational or U.
S.-owned manufacturing organization and understands the accounting, tax, compliance, intercompany, and operational complexities associated with doing business across Mexico and the United States. This individual must be comfortable operating both strategically and tactically—partnering with GDL / plant leadership on business decisions while remaining close enough to the accounting operation to ensure transactions, reconciliations, inventory, costing, payroll-related accounting, and financial reporting are accurate.

Key Responsibilities
Financial Accounting & Reporting
• Lead the accounting and financial reporting activities for the Guadalajara manufacturing operation.
• Ensure accurate and timely monthly, quarterly, and annual financial close processes.
• Prepare and review financial statements, account reconciliations, journal entries, accruals, and supporting schedules.
• Provide timely monthly financial reporting and analysis to the U.
S.-based CFO and corporate leadership.
• Ensure Mexico financial information is accurately incorporated into consolidated corporate reporting.
• Maintain a strong balance sheet reconciliation and review process.
• Identify unusual transactions, trends, variances, and financial risks and communicate them proactively to the CFO.
• Support annual financial audits and provide requested documentation to external auditors and corporate leadership. Manufacturing & Cost Accounting
• Own and continuously improve plant cost accounting processes.
• Maintain accurate standard costs, bills of material, labor rates, overhead rates, and manufacturing cost allocations.
• Analyze manufacturing variances, including material, labor, overhead, purchase price, scrap, and production variances.
• Partner with Operations to understand manufacturing performance and identify opportunities to improve profitability and operational efficiency.
• Monitor inventory valuation, reserves, obsolescence, and excess/slow-moving inventory.
• Participate in and oversee financial controls related to physical inventory and cycle-counting processes.
• Analyze product margins and manufacturing costs to support pricing and operational decisions. Budgeting, Forecasting & Business Partnership
• Lead the Guadalajara facility's annual budgeting and periodic forecasting processes in coordination with the U.
S. CFO.
• Develop meaningful forecasts for revenue, manufacturing costs, operating expenses, capital expenditures, working capital, and cash requirements.
• Provide financial analysis and recommendations to plant and corporate leadership.
• Develop and monitor plant-level KPIs and financial performance metrics.
• Partner with Operations, Supply Chain, Human Resources, Engineering, and other functions to evaluate business decisions from a financial perspective.
• Support capital expenditure analysis, including business cases, ROI analysis, tracking, and post-investment reviews. International & Intercompany Accounting
• Manage accounting associated with transactions between the Mexico operation and U.
S. parent/affiliated entities.
• Ensure appropriate accounting and documentation for intercompany transactions, balances, charges, purchases, services, and settlements.
• Support transfer-pricing processes and required documentation in coordination with corporate leadership and external advisors.
• Understand the financial implications of cross-border purchasing, inventory movements, manufacturing, and related-party transactions.
• Monitor foreign currency transactions and exposures and ensure appropriate accounting treatment.
• Reconcile intercompany accounts regularly and resolve differences promptly with U.
S. corporate accounting.
• Serve as a key financial liaison between the Mexico manufacturing operation and U.
S. corporate leadership. Mexico Tax, Statutory & Regulatory Compliance
• Ensure compliance with applicable Mexican accounting, tax, and statutory reporting requirements.
• Coordinate with external tax, payroll, legal, and compliance advisors as appropriate.
• Ensure compliance with required filings and financial information related to SAT and other applicable Mexican authorities.
• Support VAT/IVA, income tax, payroll-related tax, and other applicable compliance processes.
• Maintain appropriate documentation and financial controls supporting cross-border and related-party transactions.
• Ensure statutory accounting records are maintained appropriately and reconciled to corporate financial reporting.
• Stay informed regarding regulatory and tax developments that could affect the Mexico operation and communicate material issues to the CFO. Internal Controls & Process Improvement
• Establish and maintain strong internal financial controls throughout the Guadalajara operation.
• Ensure appropriate segregation of duties, authorization levels, documentation, and approval processes.
• Identify control gaps and implement practical corrective actions.
• Develop and document accounting policies, procedures, and standard operating processes.
• Drive continuous improvement and automation within accounting and finance processes.
• Ensure financial processes are scalable as the Mexico operation grows.
• Support corporate governance and internal-control requirements established by the U.
S. parent organization. ERP & Systems
• Serve as a key financial owner of the ERP environment for the Mexico operation.
• Ensure accurate integration of purchasing, inventory, manufacturing, sales, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and general ledger activities.
• Identify opportunities to improve ERP utilization, reporting, controls, and automation.
• Partner with corporate finance and IT resources on system improvements and data integrity.
• Experience with Acumatica ERP is strongly preferred. Qualifications Required
• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or Business Administration.
• Minimum 10 years of progressive accounting and finance experience, including significant responsibility within a manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated experience in plant accounting, manufacturing accounting, and cost accounting.
• Experience working for a multinational, international, or U.
S.-owned company with operations in Mexico.
• Strong knowledge of Mexican accounting, statutory, and tax requirements.
• Experience with intercompany accounting, transfer pricing and cross-border transactions.
• Strong understanding of inventory accounting and manufacturing cost structures.
• Experience managing month-end and year-end financial close processes.
• Strong ERP and financial reporting system experience.
• Advanced Excel and financial-analysis capabilities.
• Ability to work independently while reporting to and collaborating closely with leadership located in another country.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines. Preferred
• CPA, Contador Público, or equivalent professional accounting designation.
• Experience with Acumatica ERP.
• Experience working within a U.
S.-headquartered manufacturing organization.
• Experience with transfer pricing and related-party transactions.
• Experience supporting U.
S. GAAP reporting and consolidation.
• Experience implementing or strengthening internal controls within a growing manufacturing organization.
• Experience with ERP implementations, conversions, or process optimization.
• Experience working with maquiladora/IMMEX operations, if applicable to the business. Language Requirements
• Fluent English with Strong professional proficiency, including the ability to communicate financial results, risks, and recommendations directly with the U.
S.-based CFO and other corporate leaders.
• Must be comfortable participating in meetings and preparing financial communications and reports in English. Leadership & Professional Characteristics The Successful Candidate Will Be
• Hands-on: Willing to work directly in the details when necessary rather than operating solely at a management level.
• Analytical: Able to identify what is driving financial and operational results—not simply report the numbers.
• Proactive: Raises issues, risks, and opportunities before they become problems.
• Accountable: Takes ownership of financial accuracy, deadlines, controls, and commitments.
• Operationally minded: Understands how manufacturing decisions translate into financial results.
• Collaborative: Builds productive relationships with both Mexico-based operations and U.
S.-based corporate leadership.
• Comfortable with ambiguity: Able to establish processes and controls in an evolving or growing organization.
• High integrity: Demonstrates sound judgment, discretion, and a strong commitment to financial controls and ethical business practices. Working Relationship This position is based in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico and may operate on a hybrid work schedule, after a period of full-time onsite work. Because the role supports a manufacturing facility, regular on-site presence is required to effectively partner with Operations, understand production activities, oversee inventory and internal controls, and support plant leadership. The Plant Controller will report directly to the Chief Financial Officer located in the United States and will work closely with both Mexico-based leadership and U.
S. corporate teams. What Success Looks Like Within the first year, the Plant Controller will have established a highly reliable finance function characterized by:
• Accurate and timely monthly financial reporting.
• Strong inventory and cost-accounting controls.
• Clean and timely intercompany reconciliations.
• Reliable manufacturing cost and margin information.
• Effective Mexico statutory and tax compliance processes.
• Improved forecasting and visibility into plant financial performance.
• Documented and consistently applied internal controls.
• Strong communication and alignment between GDL operation and USA corporate finance.
• Increased use of ERP functionality and automation to reduce manual processes.