Posts Tagged ‘finops’

  • Fri, Mar 4 2011

    I’ve been with Quirky for about a month now as the new addition to the Finance/Operations team, and have hit the proverbial “ground” running at ungodly speed since Day 1. Coming from a big accounting firm, I’m definitely elated to be missing audit busy season this year. Instead, I’ve plunged grill-first into making sure the Quirky books and financials are immaculate.

    I’m super excited to be joining a skilled team of Excel-savvy number enthusiasts who are as well versed in the cryptic language of accounting as they are with the best places to eat in the city (lots of foodies here). And to prove my enthusiasm, I’ve decided to paint my apartment walls Quirky purple!

    Just kidding…

    My accent wall at home (pictured) is actually uncannily similar to that of our SoHo office — talk about having trouble distinguishing between if I’m at work or at home! Some fun stuff about me outside of work:

    - I enjoy winter sports and snowboarding in small groups.

    - I spend more hours during the week window-shopping or browsing online than I do sleeping.

    - I have an alter ego as a prolific underground poker player.

  • Fri, Dec 17 2010

    Hello Quirky!

    I’m John, the one that’s tardy in putting up his intro. The good news is I am tardy because the finance and ops teams have been myopically focused on getting your great products to market in time for the holidays and counting up the mad cash you will be banking from your influence.

    I was born and raised in southern New Jersey, where I still reside with my family. During the week, I am here in NY working day and night with the Quirky team. On the weekends, I cherish every moment of the time that I get to spend with my family!

    As for my quirks, perhaps the most notable is how I litter our house with books. In fact, so much so that my wife converted one of our linen closets into book storage. In addition to having more books than I could ever possibly read, I have innumerable interests but my favorite is spending time in the great outdoors. Give me a day with friends and family with nothing but a open fire and a tent and I am happiest guy in the world.

    So, for now, all I can say is that is not possible for me to be more excited to be part of the amazing team here in quirklyland and I look forward to all of the amazing things that we will accomplish on the road ahead!!

    John

  • Mon, Dec 6 2010

    Join The Money Team

    By jess at 7:07 pm

    Quirky’s FinOps team is hiring like crazy. Check out the open hires:

    LEGAL COUNSEL

    Do you get excited about new and different products? Ready to lose the suit and tie and come work for a fun, exciting and unique consumer product company?

    Your Background (in order of importance):
    1.) You have spent considerable time working with patents, trademarks and service marks. The ideal candidate will have a mix of experience at an IP firm and practical experience working for a leading consumer product company.
    2.) Bonus points for experience working on royalty agreements, manufacturing/vendor agreements and structuring relationships with retail partners.
    3.) Extra bonus points for experience working with credit agreements, employment agreements, leases and other general corporate matters consistent with a fast growing company.

    FINANCIAL ACCOUNTANT / GAAP WIZARD

    Ready to dive into an exciting startup and help our Controller build the GAAP reporting systems? Ready to help us improve our tracking systems and learn new software? Ready to handle complex reconciliations and develop systems to improve efficiency? Do you thrive in an exciting and fast-paced environment? Do socially developed consumer products get you excited? Are you ready to launch your accounting career, grow quickly and learn a lot?

    Ideal Candidate:
    • You know debits and credits like the back of your hand. Complex GAAP determinations? No problem. You know how to look up the rules and apply them.
    • Ideally you know debits and credits because you’ve got one to three years of top-notch public accounting experience. But, you’re bored working for a big, rigid corporation. You’re serious about your profession, but you want to lose the suit and tie and exchange some jokes.
    • You’re a rock star of a number cruncher. You can’t stand for numbers to be off, and you take personal pride in making sure everything you work is completely accurate.
    • You’re not JUST a number cruncher. You’re well rounded and generally brilliant. You know how to analyze business practices, solve complex puzzles and really think creatively.
    • Ideally, you’ve got a degree in accounting or finance and two or more years of public accounting experience.
    • Your Excel workbooks rock. Pivot tables and V-Lookups roll off the tips of your fingers like you’ve been doing them since kindergarten.
    • You’ve handled JEs and managed financial reporting for a similarly complex company, bonus points if that company is in the consumer products space or has inventory complexity.
    • QuickBooks experience? Cool. But, not relevant. Experience with NetSuite would be a bonus point for you, but if you have experience with any professional accounting software, that’ll help you here.
    • You take ownership of tasks and see them through to completion. And, you notice when something needs doing and jump on it without anyone directing you.
    • Ideal candidates also possess and have demonstrated their skills in: Critical thinking / analysis, strong organizational skills, drive for results; self motivated, success driven, ability to work independently, capacity to organize own work, set priorities and meet critical deadlines, ability to juggle multiple tasks of varying priorities and function in a rapidly changing entrepreneurial environment.

    OFFICE NINJA aka OFFICE MANAGER

    Ready to dive into an exciting startup and help build the office management functions from the ground up? Ready to help us build our accounts payables systems and learn new software? Ready to get our office running smoothly? Do you thrive in an exciting and fast-paced environment?

    Ideal Candidate:
    • You’re organized. Some people call you a neat freak, and you take that as a compliment.
    • You make good decisions and work independently. Get card-key entry system installed? No problem. Hire a moving company and organize the staff on move day? No problem. Pick out desks for new staff? No problem. You’re on it. You’ll figure it out. You’re a confident leader.
    • You’re a rock star of a number cruncher. You can’t stand for numbers to be off, and you take personal pride in making sure everything you work is completely accurate.
    • Ideally, you’ve got a degree in accounting or business and one year of bookkeeping and office management experience, or at least some substantial internship experience.
    • You’ve got experience working with accounting software and Excel experience.
    • Debits and Credits. You know the relevant accounting to the accounts payable function. You’ll need to become intimately familiar with our Chart of Accounts and post bills to the correct accounts and accounting periods.
    • You take ownership of tasks and see them through to completion. And, you notice when something needs doing and jump on it without anyone directing you.
    • Ideal candidates also possess and have demonstrated their skills in: Critical thinking / analysis, strong organizational skills, drive for results; self motivated, success driven, ability to work independently, capacity to organize own work, set priorities and meet critical deadlines, ability to juggle multiple tasks of varying priorities and function in a rapidly changing entrepreneurial environment.

    PAID FINANCE INTERN

    This is not your typical internship. This is an internship for a rising star, with the drive to pickup new skills and jump right in to self-manage projects that will be great for your resume and for our business.

    Ideal Candidate:
    • You’re an Excel wizard. You know Excel so well that even a seasoned analyst could learn new tricks from you.
    • You’re organized. Some people call you a neat freak, and you take that as a compliment.
    • You’re a rock star of a number cruncher. You can’t stand for numbers to be off, and you take personal pride in making sure everything you work is completely accurate.
    • Ideally, you’re studying Finance, Accounting, or Business and you’re acing every class. Or, you’re studying something easy, like Mathematics or Physics, maybe Economics.
    • You make good decisions and work independently. You take ownership of tasks and see them through to completion.
    • Ideal candidates also possess and have demonstrated their skills in: Critical thinking / analysis, strong organizational skills, drive for results; self motivated, success driven, ability to work independently, capacity to organize own work, set priorities and meet critical deadlines in a rapidly changing entrepreneurial environment.
    • Bonus points if you can start now and work through December!

  • Mon, Oct 25 2010

    Oh hi, Quirks! I’m Nancy, or Pei-Pei (see About Us for elaboration), and I am so excited to be the newest addition to the Finance/Ops team!

    I was brought on to manage the growing Quirky inventory from all our sweet products. With two product selections a week now, a growing retail presence, and holiday season right around the corner, I’m here to make sure the products are where they’re supposed to be and ready for business. I’ll be diving right in to build the inventory accounting function and compulsively track your products from start to finish.

    The Finance/Ops crew made it very clear that I need to bring number crunching to a whole new level of kickass. I agree, so on my first day I showed them a product analysis file AND a box of scones. How ‘bout them apples? In short, I’m here to make things happen and have a lot of fun doing it. I’m feeling all sorts of fantastic about this because the amount of intelligence, creativity, and passion in this office is unbelievable and I am so happy to be a part of this team.

    Now, some random snippets of delight about me:

    I fist-pumped my way across the Pacific Ocean at the ripe age of 4 because someone told me there were unicorns in America. This was a cruel and unfunny joke. To soothe my heartache, my parents (HI MOM AND DAD) bought me a Chow-Chow puppy, which is some sort of hybrid between a lion, a grizzly bear, and a piece of popcorn, with a purple tongue. Pei-Pei and Chow-Chow… I can’t make this up.

    Anyone who has ever seen me in the presence of a candy bar knows to physically restrain me because I will eat a 2 lb. bag of jelly bellies in one sitting then curl up in fetal position for the rest of the night on the floor.

    I really like headbands. The more offensive, the better. Sometimes I like to bring out the good ol’ mini sequined top hat headband, which drops my friend count faster than Speedy Gonzalez.

    I frequently think about how cool it was when we got bathed in bowls when we were babies. Granted I picture a giant white porcelain bowl with perfect soapy bubbles, but I’m just sayin’…

    Every day I find myself dressing just a liiiittle bit more like a penguin.  I’ve realized there’s really no use in fighting it.

  • Wed, Aug 4 2010

    We are hiring someone to head up the finance and operations department. You will be directing Nikki and I, and oh what a handful we are. Actually, I’m kidding. We are not a handful. We are very independent and know exactly where we need support. We like to have a good time, but we work really hard.

    You won’t have to think up creative motivational techniques. We are incredibly motivated to make this company work. We’re passionate about Quirky.

    You won’t need to create team-building exercises or improve communications. Ropes course? Gag. We already like each other and work together well.

    You won’t have to create a training program for us. But if you have a good book recommendation, that’s cool. Generally you can just throw is in and ask us to come back with results. We may ask some questions.

    You won’t have to do fancy shmancy evaluations and issue gold stars. Just give us a quick thumbs up or thumbs down when we request it. We like immediate feedback, mostly we just want to know if we need to adjust or fix something.

    You won’t have to come up with projects to keep us busy. We know what needs to be done, and when we see a gap we naturally jump in to fill it. We work hard and are fast.

    So, with so little time needed to manage us, what will you do with your free time? Oh, lots. You’ll roll up your sleeves and get deeply involved. We already have a to-do list for you.

    Want to be our CFO / COO? Learn more here and apply today: http://www.quirky.com/about/#careers

    P.S. We are still looking for an Inventory Manager / Analyst, a Global Logistics / Sales Support person and a great intern for our department.  All these positions are on the careers page.