Plant Controller at Fruehauf Inc – Randolph, Ohio

East Trailers LLC manufactures aluminum flatbed, dump and refuse trailers, steel dump trailers and steel and aluminum truck bodies for the commercial vehicle industry, focusing on durability, strength and maximizing payload efficiency. Renowned for their high-resale value, East trailers are an investment in superior quality and long-lasting performance. With innovative engineering, East remains a leader in the industry by designing trailers that are built to last while improving operational efficiency. Customers are supported by knowledgeable dealers offering tailored solutions, financial options, and reliable service. East is committed to providing quality products and building lasting relationships with its customers.

Hands-on business partner to operations, ensuring full financial control, transparency and decision support for two manufacturing plants, translating operational reality into accurate financial results, cost discipline and actionable insights that enable plant leadership to improve profitability, efficiency and working capital performance.

Key Responsibilities of the Role

1. Supervision and development of staff responsible for AP, AR, customer invoicing, payroll, and IT. Develops an adequate plan for backup and succession of key personnel.
2. Delivering timely and accurate, monthly, quarterly, and annual financial closings inclusive of journal entries, financial statement preparation, reconciliations of balance sheet accounts, EBIT and bank accounts, corporate reporting (actual results, forecast and analysis of earnings for presentation to management.
3. Owning full manufacturing cost integrity across both plants, guaranteeing accurate standard and actual costing, financial ownership and reliable product cost visibility.
4. Responsible for customer collections and achievement of goals set for DSO.
5. Maintain internal controls and audit procedures to ensure proper financial management.
6. Maintenance of documented policies and procedures in Finance and accounting.
7. Administration of T&E and P-Card program.
8. Management of commission and rebate programs
9. Responsible for tax reporting relative to sales tax, real estate & personal property and payroll.
10. Providing financial translation of operational performance, guaranteeing that plant and leadership has clear visibility of how production, efficiency and process performance impact margins and profitability.
11. Providing productivity and labor efficiency transparency, providing plant teams with data based insight on production, labor performance and capacity utilization to drive operational improvement.
12. Ensuring availability and reliability of financial impact analysis for key operational and engineering decisions.
13. Driving cost reduction and working capital discipline, guaranteeing controlled inventory, accurate WIP valuation and continuous improvement initiatives with measurable financial impact.
14. Guaranteeing financial governance and internal control compliance, ensuring accurate inventory valuation and adherence to internal control standards.
15. Lead generation of the monthly forecast and annual profit plan.

Role Scope

• Approve standard cost updates and cost roll assumptions.

• Define costing methodologies, overhead allocation logic and absorption models.

• Validate inventory adjustments, WIP valuation, scrap and rework accounting.

• Set financial assumptions for budget and forecast.

• Prioritize cost-reduction and productivity initiatives from a financial standpoint.

• Escalate material financial risks to CFO with recommended actions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, Accounting, Industrial Engineering or related field.

• MBA or CPA preferred.

• 8–12 years of manufacturing finance experience.

• 5+ years as Plant Controller / Manufacturing Controller.

• Multi-plant experience is strongly preferred.

• Bilingual English Spanish speaking a requisite.

• Strong hands-on mentality.

• Highly analytical and detail-oriented.

• Strong communication with operations.

• Ability to independently manage two plants.