Plant Financial Analyst

About the Role

The Financial Analyst / Plant Analyst will support the Maple Lake manufacturing facility by providing accurate financial analysis, operational reporting, cost control support, and business insights to plant leadership. This role will work closely with Finance, Operations, Materials, Engineering, and Corporate teams to monitor plant performance, analyze variances, support month-end close, and improve decision-making through timely and reliable reporting.

The ideal candidate is detail-oriented, analytical, proactive, and comfortable working in a manufacturing environment. This position requires strong Excel skills, financial acumen, and the ability to translate data into actionable insights.

Responsibilities

Financial Reporting & Analysis

• Support month-end close activities, including journal entry support, accruals, account reconciliations, and variance analysis.
• Prepare and analyze monthly financial results, including sales, cost of goods sold, labor, overhead, inventory, scrap, and EBITDA performance.
• Assist with forecast, budget, and annual operating plan preparation.
• Prepare weekly and monthly reporting packages for plant and finance leadership.
• Analyze actual results versus forecast, budget, and prior periods, identifying key drivers and risks.

Cost Accounting & Manufacturing Analysis

• Analyze manufacturing variances, including labor efficiency, material usage, purchase price variance, overhead absorption, and scrap.
• Support standard cost reviews, BOM/routing analysis, and cost roll activities.
• Partner with Operations and Engineering to validate cost assumptions, cycle times, labor rates, and process changes.
• Monitor inventory movements, WIP, finished goods, obsolete/slow-moving inventory, and inventory valuation.
• Assist with physical inventory, cycle counts, and inventory reconciliation processes.

Operational KPIs & Business Support

• Develop and maintain plant performance dashboards and KPI reporting.
• Track key operational metrics such as production volume, labor hours, scrap, downtime, productivity, inventory levels, and absorption impact.
• Provide financial support for continuous improvement projects and cost reduction initiatives.
• Support plant leadership with ad hoc financial analysis and business case evaluations.
• Identify opportunities to improve reporting accuracy, process efficiency, and financial controls.

Systems & Process Improvement

• Extract, validate, and analyze data from ERP and reporting systems.
• Maintain accurate and consistent reporting files, templates, and databases.
• Support improvements in reporting automation, data integrity, and standard work processes.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to resolve data or transaction issues impacting financial reporting.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or related field.
• 1–3 years of experience in finance, accounting, cost accounting, or manufacturing analysis preferred.
• Strong Excel skills, including pivot tables, formulas, lookups, and data analysis.
• Ability to analyze large data sets and summarize findings clearly.
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to accuracy.
• Ability to work independently and manage multiple priorities in a deadline-driven environment.
• Strong communication skills and ability to work cross-functionally with Operations, Materials, Engineering, and Finance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a manufacturing environment.
• Knowledge of cost accounting, standard costing, inventory valuation, and variance analysis.
• Experience with ERP systems, Power BI, Power Query, or other reporting tools.
• Understanding of month-end close, forecasting, budgeting, and plant financial reporting.

Key Competencies

• Analytical thinking
• Financial discipline
• Business partnership
• Process improvement mindset
• Accountability and ownership
• Strong communication
• Problem-solving
• Sense of urgency

Success Measures

• Timely and accurate reporting of plant financial results.
• Clear explanation of key financial and operational variances.
• Improved visibility into labor, scrap, inventory, and cost performance.
• Strong support to plant leadership during close, forecast, and operational reviews.
• Reliable data integrity and continuous improvement of reporting processes.