Plant Controller at Vessel Technologies – York, Pennsylvania

At Vessel Technologies, we're not just building housingwe're reimagining what housing can be. Our groundbreaking approach combines world-class design, advanced technology, and sustainable practices to redefine how people live and experience home. In 2024, Vessel reinvented the apartment building. Now, were scaling that visionfrom projects in Connecticut today to Florida and ultimately across the nation.

Vessel designs and delivers multi-family, multi-story apartment communities using a highly integrated model that combines off-site modular manufacturing with on-site assembly. Our factory in York, PA produces modular panel assemblies that bring manufacturing discipline, speed, and predictability to construction.

The Plant Controller is the financial leader of Vessels York manufacturing facility, responsible for end-to-end cost ownership and overall cost performance across manufacturing operations. This role owns standard costing, inventory integrity, variance analysis, plant-level financial reporting, and cost discipline across operations.

This is not a back-office accounting role. This is a hands-on, high-impact position embedded in plant operations translating financial insight into operational performance and driving measurable cost reductions and efficiency improvements. The Plant Controller will build scalable cost infrastructure that supports rapid production growth while ensuring financial rigor, data integrity, and operational accountability.

This role does not currently include direct reports but requires strong cross-functional influence and executive-level communication. This role is expected to identify and execute meaningful, measurable cost reductions across materials, labor, and overhead within the first 36 months.

Reports to: Executive Vice President of Operations

Dotted-line responsibility to: Vice President of Accounting

Vessel is a high-growth startup. Systems and processes are still being built, and base data quality continues to evolve. There is pressure to deliver financial clarity while simultaneously building scalable infrastructure.

Success in this role requires comfort operating with imperfect data, building structure in ambiguity, and creating financial discipline without slowing operational momentum.

Own monthly plant financial close, including inventory reconciliation and cost reporting

Lead standard cost roll (annual, semi-annual, or per project) and periodic re-costing processes

Maintain and continuously improve BOMs, routings, labor standards, and overhead rates

Develop and maintain overhead absorption methodology

Analyze material, labor, overhead, scrap, and purchase price variances (PPV)

Establish labor productivity reporting and efficiency tracking

Partner with Strategic Sourcing, Materials Management and Manufacturing Operations to reduce cost per unit and improve overall cost efficiency

Oversee inventory accuracy, WIP valuation, and manufacturing close processes

Drive cycle count governance and physical inventory controls

Support capital expenditure analysis, make versus buy, and ROI modeling for plant investments

Ensure GAAP compliance within plant accounting and cost practices

Serve as the financial leader of the York manufacturing facility

Translate operational metrics (throughput, yield, scrap, labor efficiency) into financial impact

Provide weekly cost performance visibility to executive leadership

Influence operational decisions to improve throughput and reduce total production cost

Develop plant-level KPIs aligned with cost reduction and capacity scaling

Support long-range production planning and cost modeling

Identify and lead cost reduction initiatives across materials, labor, and overhead

Build scalable financial processes to support future production growth and potential multi-plant expansion

Lead financial design and rollout of NetSuite MRP within manufacturing

Govern standard costing configuration and cost architecture

Improve master data accuracy across BOMs, labor standards, and routing structures

Develop dashboards and financial reporting tools for plant and executive decision-making

Establish scalable cost infrastructure capable of supporting significant production growth

Establish robust financial controls within manufacturing operations

Implement disciplined inventory governance processes

Ensure audit readiness and documentation rigor

Partner with Accounting to align plant processes with corporate reporting standards

Improve reliability and integrity of operational data inputs

Bachelors degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field

812+ years in manufacturing cost accounting in a standard cost environment

Deep expertise in standard costing, variance analysis, and inventory accounting

Experience in a high-growth or scaling manufacturing environment preferred

Experience building financial processes from the ground up

ERP implementation experience (NetSuite strongly preferred)

Strong executive communication and cross-functional influence skills

Demonstrated ability to translate operational performance into financial outcomes

A once-in-a-generation opportunity to redefine housing through manufacturing innovation

Ownership of cost structure and cost efficiency performance in a national growth platform

High visibility with executive leadership

The opportunity to architect scalable manufacturing finance infrastructure from the ground up

Mission-driven, innovative team

Competitive compensation and long-term growth opportunity