The Lumistella Company Careers

Join us in Telling the Stories of Santa’s North Pole!

The Lumistella Company is a global intellectual property company dedicated to bringing Santa’s North Pole to life for children around the world through consumer products, original entertainment and brand experiences. We are home to the most iconic and beloved Christmas brands of this generation including The Elf on the Shelf, Elf Pets, and Elf Mates.

We are looking for an SVP of Finance to provide strategic financial leadership and operational management for the accounting and financial operations of the company. This key leadership position is responsible for strategic planning, operational improvements, capitalization strategies and structure, financial planning and analysis, accounting controls and governance, and overall financial reporting.

The SVP of Finance works closely with the COO, President and Management Team to establish financial strategies that support, align and facilitate the company’s corporate objectives and key programs, while ensuring the maintenance of an adequate system of accounting records and a comprehensive set of controls and budgets designed to mitigate risk and enhance the accuracy of the company's reported financial results.

The SVP of Finance manages a team of accounting and finance professionals, represents accounting and finance in Management Team meetings, and serves as a key driver in the strategic planning process for the accounting and finance function for the business.

The SVP of Finance serves as a strategic business partner who works along-side their Management Team peers to drive best practices, innovation and financial sophistication throughout the business. The SVP is responsible for achieving a high level of credibility as an effective and responsive internal partner who is of the highest integrity.

Essential responsibilities include:

• Develops and executes financial strategies designed to support the overall objectives of the business; Aligns corporate objectives and multi-year plans with financial planning processes; Evolves the finance function for improved integration with the business planning function;
• Optimizes and drives a financial infrastructure (people, process and systems) that supports the company’s achievement of both short and long term operating plans and business objectives;
• Develops processes and strategies to improve alignment of finance with sales, product development, sourcing and supply chain operations; Provides financial oversight and leadership for the measurement and reporting of key financial metrics such as margin, profitability, productivity and ROI; Facilitates modeling necessary to evaluate opportunities and risks, and makes recommendations for improvement;
• Drives the collection and analysis of financial metrics for use in executive and management decision making; develops related process for reporting and presents key financial reports; supports the Executive Board and Management Team with the preparation of financial plans and ad hoc reports and analysis;
• Identifies and develops strategies to maximize working capital and cash flow through expense management, timely resolution of customer receivable risks, utilization of capitalization strategies and management of outgoing payables;
• Advises on structures designed to maximize tax benefits and minimize tax liability; Collaborates with internal and external stakeholders to evaluate corporate structure, model scenarios and establish new entities or operating models to support the evolving business with an eye towards the future;
• Works with the President and COO to manage relationships with financial institution partners;
• Provides leadership, vision, management, coaching and development to Accounting and Finance team; Continuously evolves the team’s roles and capabilities to ensure that the company’s goals are met; Makes recommendations with regard to hiring, promotion and ongoing performance management; Promotes teamwork, innovation, sharing and communication among team members; Conducts performance appraisals and engages in ongoing goal and development planning to drive growth and development of team members;
• Drives re-engineering of existing business processes where needed, identifying and developing the capability to use new tools, reshaping the company’s accounting and finance infrastructure, and identifying and exploiting the company’s knowledge resources;
• Ensures the maintenance of and adherence to a documented system of accounting policies and procedures which are consistent with operational best practices; Holds team accountable for organizing policies and procedures into an SOP Manual to guide controls and ensure adequate checks and balances;
• Identifies operational gaps and develops process and procedure to address them; Identifies and assesses opportunities for improved efficiency and use of systems to streamline accounting and financial processes; Makes recommendations for improvements and develops plans for implementation;
• Protects assets by establishing, monitoring, and enforcing internal controls;
• Ensures that the transactional functions of the accounting process are completed timely and accurately by the accounting team; includes accounts payable, accounts receivable, bank reconciliations, debt payments and accounting system entries and reports; Evaluates systems and processes for effectiveness and implements changes needed for efficiency and continuous improvement;
• Works with the Controller / Sr. Director of Accounting and the VP of Finance to facilitate the annual budget preparation process; Ensures team establishes schedules; collects, analyzes and consolidates financial data; creates procedures, sets up software, conducts training and completes monthly budget to actual review and forecasting updates on a timely basis;
• Manages the preparation and issuance of timely and complete financial reports; Works with Sr. Director of Accounting and VP of Finance to prepare monthly financial statements, Income Statements, Balance Sheets, Cash Flow Analysis, Variance Analysis, et al.; Monitors and analyzes monthly operating results against budget; Monitors debt levels and compliance with debt covenants; Presents information to stakeholders;
• Manages the preparation of financial outlooks and financial forecasts; Monitors and reports on the financial condition of the Company; Analyzes business performance across all key metrics and KPI’s; Recommends and tracks benchmarks for measuring financial and operating performance; Identifies risks / opportunities, communicates to key stakeholders, and recommends appropriate corrective actions when necessary;
• Works with the President and COO to prepare and distribute financial and operational analyses, commentary, and presentation materials for various internal and external stakeholders; Provides financial analyses and operating metrics as needed for capital investments, pricing decisions, and contract negotiations;
• Partners with the accounting team on monthly close and reporting processes by collecting, interpreting and reporting key financial data and business drivers, including conducting detailed monthly revenue and expense variance analyses; Evaluates opportunities to refine and improve efficiency of close process;
• Identifies and recommends accounting department staff needed to effectively accomplish goals and objectives as company grows;
• Works with the Controller / Sr. Director of Accounting to oversee the annual audit process in coordination with internal teams and external auditors;
• Serves as a member of the company’s Management and Leadership Teams and participates on Committees as needed;
• Ensures the company complies with local, state, and federal government reporting requirements and tax filings; Aligns with the Controller / Sr. Director of Accounting on technical accounting issues to ensure compliance and communicate changes impacting financial reporting to Executive leadership;
• Represents the company externally to government agencies, auditors, and the general public;
• Fulfills additional SVP of Finance duties as necessary; and
• Protects company assets through the proper management of asset files and adherence to company policy with regard to information security and management.

If you want to be one of us... 

The ideal candidate will bring:

• 15+ years of progressive accounting experience with a minimum of 5 years of experience as a VP of Finance in a privately held company which creates and produces consumer products for sale to retail;
• 10+ years of relevant financial modeling, analysis, and reporting experience with at least 5 years of supervisory, forecasting and budgeting experience;
• Knowledge of automated financial and accounting reporting systems; Experience with an ERP system in a previous position is required; Previous experience with an EPM (Enterprise Performance Management) system preferred;
• Exceptional technical skills in the operation and functioning of all programs used by the organization; Intermediate to Advanced skills in Microsoft Office products including Word, Excel and Outlook;
• A hands-on leader with “roll-up-the-sleeves” attitude and strong leadership skills; A proven leader in hiring, developing, and retaining a high-performing accounting and finance team;
• Possesses the ability to lead and inspire personnel across the organization (both formally and informally) to collaborate and achieve goals – must inspire and share vision;
• Exhibits executive level business acumen and executive functioning skills; ability to see the big picture and to effectively adjust presentation of information to audience;
• Demonstrates a high level of emotional intelligence – skilled in self-awareness, self-regulation, self-motivation, empathy and social awareness;
• Ability to thrive in a fast paced, small to mid-size company environment; Flexible and adaptable; Willing to roll up their sleeves and do whatever it takes to accomplish goals with  excellence; Understands the nuance associated with working in an entrepreneurial, privately held, family owned company;
• Ability to develop executive level information / data and business strategy; Strong strategic planning and project management skills; Agile in approach – able to shift directions and approach when needed;
• Enabler-style, naturally gifted at encouraging and assisting in the attainment of an idea; innovative in approach with strong stakeholding, collaboration and leadership skills;
• Demonstrated ability to effectively manage change and maintain strong working relationships cross-functionally;
• Knowledge of finance, accounting, budgeting, and cost control principles including Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP);
• Ability to analyze financial data and prepare financial reports, statements and projections; Knowledge of short and long-term budgeting and forecasting, rolling budgets, and product-line profitability analysis;
• Strategic thinker with strong problem-solving skills and ability to offer creative solutions to complex problems; Ability to blend intuitive thinking and quantitative analysis;
• Strong attention to detail and accuracy; Ability to proofread work;
• Credibility, ethics, integrity, transparency and full disclosure; Demonstrates a high degree of confidentiality and understands all ethical standards of a finance professional;
• Strong and professional written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills; Ability to articulate complex financial information;
• Ability to work well with both Senior Executives, as well as internal and external stakeholders and team;
• Ability to motivate others and produce quality deliverables within tight timeframes while simultaneously managing multiple projects; Ability to plan and stay focused;
• Outstanding organizational and time management skills; Demonstrates initiative, flexibility and adaptability;
• Confident and decisive in stressful situations and tight time frames; Strong problem analysis and problem-solving skills;
• Demonstrated experience and skill in negotiating with vendors, contractors and others;
• Utilizes good judgment; Demonstrates maturity, tact and diplomacy; and
• Ability to utilize active listening skills and follow directions (hear, process and understand).

Education requirements: 

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration/ Accounting or Finance;
• MBA preferred, but not required.

The above is intended to describe the general content of and requirements for the performance of this job. It is not to be construed as an exhaustive statement of essential functions, responsibilities or requirements. A full and complete copy of the Job Description is available upon request.

Want to Know More?

To learn more about our company, check out our web site at: www.Lumistella.com.

The Lumistella Company is an equal employment opportunity employer.