Thank you for your interest in employment with Leanin' Tree!Leanin' Tree is the nation's leading fine art greeting card publisher and #1 rated alternative greeting card manufacturer. Our facility is located in beautiful Boulder, Colorado. For over 70 years, we have been bringing the best of words and art together. Leanin’ Tree is employee owned and offers a warm and friendly working environment. Come join our team!
The Leanin’ Tree ESOP is looking for a Financial Controller
Leanin’ Tree greeting cards product mission for more than seventy years has remained unchanged: To bring the best in art and words together in a way that touches people’s hearts.
Leanin’ Tree is about transforming a simple piece of paper into something special that brightens your day, lifts your heart, or makes you smile. It’s all about helping people connect and communicate.
We are fundamentally a consumer products company, driven by the needs and desires of our consumers. We license from several hundred artists to ensure we are meeting these consumer needs for social expression – compassion, laughter, a simple smile, a sign of caring and the many other emotions greeting cards elicit. We compete in the massive $7B greeting card industry with exciting opportunity for market share gain and competitive differentiation.
We sell primarily to retailers, large and small, and even direct to consumers nationwide. Our metrics tell us we sell a greeting card every second to consumers who are purchasing greeting cards as an investment in their relationships and find Leanin’ Tree cards say it best. Retailers have rated Leanin’ Tree #1 for 17 years in a row, and #1 in humorous greeting cards for 12 years. We employ 140 ESOP employee-owners and are located in Colorado right outside of Boulder, where we have our own manufacturing and production facility.
Leanin’ Tree is proud to be a Certified Green Printer, producing earth-friendly cards and envelopes on recycled paper using soy-based inks.
The company flourished for decades as a family-owned operation until it became a fully employee-owned ESOP in late 2021.
Reporting to the CEO, the Financial Controller (Controller) is responsible to lead the payroll, credit and accounting functions. The Controller is a key member of the organization’s leadership team.

• The Controller is accountable for accurate and timely financial reporting for all company business entities while managing banking relationships and maintaining appropriate internal controls, processes, and systems.
• The position requires self-assurance, competitive drive, long-term planning skills as well as the ability to quickly solve day to day issues.
• Ensure accurate payroll activities.
• The Controller is also responsible for leading, guiding, and directing the accounting and credit team to create a culture of inclusion, respect, accountability and high performance.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Oversee and administer daily cash management, approve weekly AP/check signing and ACH/Wire disbursement, and provide support to collections activities
• Review all month-end, quarter-end, and year-end closing activities including general ledger maintenance, balance sheet reconciliations, and corporate/overhead cost allocations.
• Ensure timeliness, accuracy, and usefulness of financial and management reporting for all managers.
• Enhance and implement financial and accounting systems, processes, tools, and control systems.
• Remain up to date on financial management in accordance with GAAP.
• Mentor and develop high-caliber finance and accounting team. Manage work allocation, offer training, oversee performance evaluations, and build effective team dynamics.
• Manage the company’s legal compliance and insurance programs.
• Assist the CEO on the company’s real estate affairs.
• Develop an annual operating plan (AOP or Budget) that holds all team members accountable to achieving real results on an annual basis. Also ties into all incentive plans.
• Create a forecasting process that helps us proactively manage the business to achieve higher results.
• Manages treasury to optimize debt and available cash. Also creates cash flow projections to do the same.
• Responsible to protect all company assets:
• Cash and other controls
• Insurance/risk management
• ESOP annual audit and reporting compliance
• Contract review
• Overall accounts receivable management
• Companies Review with external auditors
• 401k Audit
• External ESOP share valuation
• Review payroll and 401k
• Responsible to handle pricing analysis:
• Price increases
• Margin management
• SKU and customer rationalization
• Tax management to maximize efficiency.
• Responsible to integrate all parts of the business into an easily understood approach so all employees can understand the business and how they can impact the outcomes against business performance.

Supervision

• Provide effective executive-level leadership to the accounting organization.
• Promotes communication and cooperation among departments to create a spirit of unity in the organization.
• Leads and motivates a team of managers, coaching staff and fostering teamwork to ensure staff optimization and organizational competency.
• Uphold an environment that promotes great performance and positive morale.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to naturally engage and connect with others
• Ability to explore and build strategic alliances and/or pursue acquisition targets as potential to advance the company’s market share.
• In-depth knowledge of general management best practices.
• Strong ability to organize effectively, delegate responsibility, solve problems quickly and communicate clearly.
• Consummate understanding of corporate finance and performance management principles
• Superlative communication skills with the ability to communicate as a leader, listen attentively, and excel at public speaking.
• Proven record of accomplishment for effective team management and results driven leadership.
• Prospective candidates for the controller role will possess relevant experience in a consumer goods environment.
• Demonstrated track record to drive organizations to higher growth and profitability through strategy, innovation, and crisp and consistent execution of strategic plans.
• The ideal candidate will have worked with smaller companies and / or start-ups to bring an appreciation for building / scaling businesses from earlier stages. Experience building process, systems, and rigor will be important.
• Ability to inspire confidence and create trust.
• Ability to travel as needed

Education and Experience

• Bachelors and/or Master’s Degree in Business Administration, Economics or Finance.
• Proven Controller experience, minimum of 10 years in a senior corporate managerial position.
• Financial planning and strategy, including in-depth understanding of accounting principles including budgeting, profit and loss, balance sheets, income statements, cash flow, and capital planning management
• Strong knowledge of GAAP, general ledger computer applications, MS Office and Excel,
• Working knowledge of corporate federal and state tax.
• Proven record of creating, building, developing and leading high-performing, diverse teams. A commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Salary: $110,000. - $170,000 annual (with potential for earned bonus and equity)
Benefits include: health plan, life insurance, disability, 401 plan, and entitlements.
Note: This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, or qualifications for the job.
If this role sounds exciting to you, please send your cover letter, resume and salary requirements to:
human.resources@leanintree.com
We offer excellent benefits- 3 weeks Paid Time Off your first year of employment, 10 paid holidays, plus Floating Holiday and Volunteer time! Health, dental, and vision eligible after 30 days, Life Assistance Program, FSA, life/disability insurance, 401(k), and free product! We are an EEO Employer