As a new industry alternative for independent artists, UnitedMasters provides premium music distribution services and facilitates unique partnerships between artists and the world’s biggest brands. We enable artists to maintain full ownership over their master recording rights while introducing them to millions of new fans worldwide through our direct brand partnerships.
The UnitedMasters team is made up of musicians, marketers, engineers and storytellers with backgrounds from Beats, Apple, YouTube, SoundCloud, Pandora and more. We work hand in hand with the award-winning creative teams that forge those innovative partnerships at Translation.
# What’s the role?
The VP/Director of Finance serves as a strategic business partner and finance lead for the UnitedMasters business and executive team.
In this role, he/she will provide daily, hands-on solutions, analysis and support to the Leadership Team, Product Management and Music teams as they deliver industry leading artist services for the top independent artists in the world. The combination of Translation, our in-house creative agency, and UnitedMasters creates a unique value proposition and opportunities for brands and artists to connect in the middle of our two-sided marketplace.
The VP/Director will lead day to day finance support of the UnitedMasters team including oversight of artist royalty payments and ROI, product and strategic initiative prioritization, budget/business planning and financial reporting and Controllership. A hands-on professional who is passionate about their team, music, and over-delivering in a start-up and fast paced environment will excel in this role. Music, streaming or media experience is strongly preferred, but ability to adapt to technology and process improvement is critical.
Essential Responsibilities You’ll Own
- Provide exceptional day to day oversight of UnitedMasters financial reporting, planning, risk management and process improvement. Lead a small team of royalty accountants and analysts supported by a shared services centralized finance team (accounting, AP, AR, payroll, etc.)
- Help grow the Revenue per Active Distributed Artists and Net Subscription Revenue per UM Subscriber to achieve our long range goals
- Work closely with the UnitedMasters music lead, engineering lead, product lead and other key managers to support build/buy/partner decisions, pricing, product investment prioritization, and other day to day and strategic planning.
- Challenge the status quo – ask tough questions to bottom out strategic and operational priorities to ensure they are leading to expected results and long term financial success for UnitedMasters.
- Own the UM P&L from top to bottom – act as a CFO/Business Partner.
- Deliver insights and organize information to optimize decision making
# Who are we looking for?
- 6-12 years professional experience, with a track record in financial reporting, FP&A, business partner and strategic planning for complex businesses.
- Ability to apply data and analysis to complex problems – provide management with scenario planning and options to maximize investor return in UM.
- Hands on leader who can coach and do – must be able to create complex financial models, effective written communication in presentations and memos, add value daily
- Can establish consistent and effective processes and delegate tasks / ownership effectively to provide superior support to the UM business and Finance team
- Can contribute to a senior leadership team that is transparent, outcome focused, supportive of each other and willing to run towards problems.
- Broad enough finance experience to know where risks may materialize, how accounting may impact operational decisions, and the complexities involved to support product launches or other UM initiatives.
- Prior experience with sophisticated Enterprise Resource Planning systems (NetSuite, ADP, etc.)
- Prior experience with subscription and advertising / media related business models a plus.
- Strategic, passionate and fearless problem-solver, who loves to dig in
- Understands importance of controllership, ethics, and sound decision making
- Accountable and dedicated team player
About Translation Enterprises
Translation Enterprises, composed of Translation LLC and UnitedMasters, is a minority-owned marketing and technology company empowering brands and artists to forge authentic connections with audiences at scale through a unique mix of actionable insights, technology, and storytelling.
Translation was founded on the power of culture to propel discourses, trends, and movements – and more importantly, be the most unapologetic determinant of what is relevant. For over 15 years, Translation has partnered with brands and creators to build and grow disruptive platforms that foster deeper community engagement. This experience has given us unparalleled insight into the dynamics of culture and affinities that link people together. Backed by Alphabet, Andreessen Horowitz, and 21st Century Fox, we are reimagining how brands and artists tell their stories, create value, and push culture forward.
