Controller

THE COMPANY

Our client is a financially strong privately held U.S.-based consumer products company and an established leader within its specialized market niche. The company has built a successful and highly regarded business and is entering an exciting new phase of growth, with revenues projected to increase approximately 30% over the next three to four years. As the organization scales, leadership is investing in the people, processes, financial disciplines, and operating infrastructure required to support the next stage of the company’s evolution. Due to the confidential nature of this search, additional information regarding the company will be shared with qualified candidates at the appropriate stage of the process. 

THE POSITION

This is an exceptional opportunity for an accomplished manufacturing finance leader who wants to do considerably more than manage the accounting function.
Reporting to and working closely with the Chief Financial Officer in the United States, the Controller will serve as the financial leader supporting the company’s multi-site Mexico manufacturing operations and as a key business partner to the Vice President of Manufacturing. The Controller will be a catalyst for change, helping elevate financial organization from a primarily transactional and reporting function into a proactive, disciplined, and highly valued business partner to operations. The successful executive will strengthen financial and operational controls, improve cost and performance visibility, enhance forecasting and decision support, develop more robust processes, and build a high-performing accounting and finance organization capable of supporting the company’s anticipated growth. Importantly, this is not a maintenance role. There is significant “low-hanging fruit” and opportunity for measurable improvement, giving the incoming Controller the ability to make an early impact and establish a strong record of accomplishment of accomplishments. For an ambitious finance leader, this is a highly visible opportunity to build, improve, influence, and lead while working directly with senior corporate and manufacturing leadership.  The Controller will be based in Tijuana, Mexico.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the principal finance business partner for Mexico manufacturing, collaborating closely with the U.S.-based CFO, VP of Manufacturing, corporate Finance organization, and Mexico operations leadership.
• Lead, develop, coach, and elevate a team of approximately 4–5 accounting and administrative professionals, creating a high-performance culture built around accountability, responsiveness, technical excellence, teamwork, and continuous improvement.
• Assess the current Mexico finance and accounting organization and establish a roadmap to strengthen its people, processes, controls, systems, reporting, and analytical capabilities.
• Establish and maintain robust financial and operational processes for budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting, cost accounting, variance analysis, working capital, capital expenditures, and management reporting.
• Strengthen the company’s internal control environment within Mexico manufacturing, identifying potential financial and operational risks and implementing appropriate processes and controls to mitigate them.
• Ensure the integrity and accuracy of Mexico financial results and compliance with U.S. GAAP, Mexican statutory requirements, applicable tax regulations, and corporate accounting policies.
• Develop meaningful financial and operational KPIs, dashboards, analyses, and management reporting that provide leadership with greater visibility into plant and business performance.
• Provide insightful analysis of manufacturing performance, including product costs, labor, overhead, productivity, operating expenses, headcount, capital investments, and operational variances.
• Move beyond reporting historical results by identifying the business drivers behind performance, highlighting risks and opportunities, and recommending actions that improve profitability and operating performance.
• Partner with manufacturing leadership to identify and execute cost reduction, productivity, process improvement, and profitability initiatives.
• Develop reliable financial forecasts and provide forward-looking analysis that enables management to anticipate challenges, evaluate alternatives, and make better business decisions.
• Establish the appropriate tools, communication channels, reporting mechanisms, and working relationships necessary to maintain a productive and transparent partnership with the company’s Mexico shelter organization.
• Review relevant agreements, processes, expenditures, and business practices to identify financial exposure and opportunities for improved controls, efficiency, and cost management.
• Develop an accounting and finance organization recognized throughout the business as timely, technically competent, commercially minded, responsive, and trusted.
• Promote an open, transparent, collaborative business culture while constructively challenging the status quo when existing practices can be improved.
• Participate in strategic and cross-functional initiatives including financial systems enhancements, ERP improvements, process redesign, capital projects, and other assignments sponsored by senior leadership.

THE CANDIDATE

The ideal candidate will be a hands-on, manufacturing finance leader who combines strong technical accounting and cost-finance expertise with the leadership presence and business acumen necessary to influence operational decisions.
This individual should enjoy building and improving organizations rather than simply maintaining established processes. The successful candidate will be comfortable operating at both the strategic and tactical levels—equally capable of discussing business performance with the CFO and VP of Manufacturing and diving into the details necessary to understand cost variance, control weakness, or operational issue.
We are seeking a hands-on leader who sees finance as an operating partner and change agent, not simply a reporting function.

Candidate Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related discipline required.
• Professional accounting designation such as Contador Público (CP) or equivalent required.
• Minimum 6+ years of progressive accounting and/or finance experience within manufacturing operations in Mexico.
• Minimum 3+ years of management or supervisory experience (i.e., Controller, Finance Manager or similar).
• Demonstrated career progression with increasing levels of responsibility and a record of delivering measurable results.
• Strong technical accounting foundation with hands-on knowledge of U.S. GAAP, financial reporting, internal controls, and financial analysis.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing finance and cost accounting, including standard costs, variances, labor and overhead analysis, inventory, budgeting, forecasting, and operational performance measurement.
• Experience with financial planning and analysis (FP&A) within a manufacturing environment highly desirable.
• Working knowledge of applicable Mexican federal, state, and local tax and statutory requirements.
• Demonstrated ability to improve financial processes, establish controls, increase visibility into operating performance, and help drive organizational change.
• Proven ability to become a trusted business partner to manufacturing and senior leadership, translating financial information into actionable business recommendations.
• Solid understanding of ERP systems and cross-functional system interfaces.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Excel and strong working knowledge of the Microsoft Office suite.
• Strong leadership and people-development capabilities with experience building, coaching, and elevating accounting and finance teams.
• Hands-on and intellectually curious; willing to dig into the details while maintaining a broader strategic and commercial perspective.
• Self-motivated, results-oriented, and comfortable operating in an environment where significant opportunities exist to improve existing processes and practices.
• Confident and appropriately assertive, with the ability to challenge the status quo constructively and influence change across functional and organizational boundaries.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to work effectively with executives, plant leadership, corporate functions, external partners, shelter operator and employees at all levels of the organization.
• Unquestioned integrity, judgment, objectivity, and discretion when handling confidential and sensitive information.
• Fully bilingual English/Spanish, both written and verbal, required.

THE OPPORTUNITY
This position offers the right finance leader an unusual opportunity to make a visible and measurable impact within a successful company at an important point in its growth. The organization is financially stable, debt-free, and positioned for substantial expansion. At the same time, there is considerable opportunity to strengthen the Mexico finance organization, upgrade controls and processes, improve operational visibility, and develop the existing team. The successful Controller will have direct exposure to senior leadership in both the United States and Mexico and the opportunity to become a trusted partner to the CFO and VP of Manufacturing. For a high-performing finance executive who enjoys building teams, solving problems, driving change, and improving manufacturing performance, this is an opportunity to step into a role where accomplishments will be highly visible and where the individual can truly leave a mark on the organization.