Finance Controller & Studio Operations Manager

About Imaginary Forces

Imaginary Forces (IF) is a leading creative studio working at the intersection of design, storytelling, and visual systems. For 30 years, we’ve helped shape the visual language of entertainment and culture — from cinematic sequences and brand identities to world-building and experience design.

We partner with leading brands, studios, platforms, and creators to craft work that moves audiences and creates meaningful impact. We’re not a traditional creative organization. We’re a craft-led studio built on ideas, storytelling, and execution.

We’re now entering a new phase — evolving how the business operates so the creative work can scale and sustain. This role sits at the center of that shift.

We’re looking for a Finance Controller & Studio Operations Manager to bring financial control, operational clarity, and consistency to how the studio runs.

This is a hands-on role at the center of the business — connecting finance, production, resourcing, and day-to-day operations. You’ll help us understand performance in real time and ensure the studio operates with greater discipline and visibility.

You will work closely with the CEO and CFO, translating financial performance into day-to-day operational decisions and helping leadership run the business with greater clarity and control. This role plays a key part in improving the profitability and efficiency of the studio.

This is not a traditional controller role. It requires someone comfortable working across both financial oversight and operational execution within a creative business.

It also requires someone who understands the importance of strong financial controls, but can implement them in a way that works within a creative environment — building structure that enables the work, not slows it down.

Today, information is fragmented, project performance is not consistently visible, and decision-making can be slower than it should be. This role is critical in changing that.

This role complements existing financial leadership, with a focus on day-to-day visibility and operational integration.

• Bringing visibility to project and company performance
• Creating consistency in how work is tracked and evaluated
• Supporting better decisions through clear, reliable data
• Reducing fragmentation across finance, production, and resourcing

This role is less about maintaining the status quo and more about helping the studio operate in a more connected, disciplined way.

Financial Control & Visibility

• Maintain a clear, up-to-date view of company performance (revenue, margin, freelance spend, utilization)
• Track project-level performance and reconcile to company outcomes
• Identify margin leakage and cost inefficiencies
• Partner with production to ensure budgets are grounded in reality

Project Economics & Resource Support

• Support frameworks for freelance usage, staffing mix, and cost thresholds
• Work with resourcing and production to align staffing with project needs
• Bring consistency to project tracking and evaluation
• Support greater company-wide visibility on performance

Operating Rhythm & Reporting

• Establish a weekly reporting cadence across finance and production
• Build clear, usable reporting that supports leadership decisions
• Contribute to monthly and quarterly performance reviews

Systems & “Control Tower”

• Help build and maintain a centralized view across projects, people, and finances
• Work within existing tools (CETA, Google Sheets, etc.) to improve visibility
• Improve data flow across teams
• Reduce fragmentation in tracking and reporting

Studio Operations

• Act as an operational backbone for the Los Angeles studio, ensuring consistency, responsiveness, and follow-through
• Partner with leadership to improve day-to-day studio effectiveness across workflows, communication, facilities, and technology coordination
• Serve as a clear and reliable first point of contact for team needs (policies, benefits, workplace logistics), ensuring questions are resolved quickly and consistently
• Own and reinforce key operational policies (working norms, studio usage, basic people processes)
• Ensure the studio operates in a coordinated and professional way day to day
• Identify friction points across teams and drive practical solutions before they impact delivery or morale
• Support onboarding, role clarity, and cross-functional coordination
• Drive operational discipline across the studio, ensuring clear ownership, timely decisions, and consistent follow-through

• Work closely with our external accounting and financial services partner
• Support the CFO in maintaining financial oversight
• Translate financial outputs into practical insights for the team
• Ensure clean coordination between operations and formal accounting

• 6–10 years experience in finance, operations, or production finance (agency, studio, or media environment preferred)
• Comfortable working across both numbers and day-to-day operations
• Strong attention to detail with a practical, problem-solving mindset
• Able to collaborate effectively with creative and production teams
• Clear communicator who can translate data into insight
• Hands-on and adaptable in a fast-moving environment
• Comfortable operating in an environment that is evolving and not yet fully systemized

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, or related field preferred
• CPA or formal accounting qualification is a plus, not required

Location: Los Angeles (hybrid, ~3 days/week in studio, typically Tues–Thur to support day-to-day studio operations)

Compensation: $130K–$150K plus benefits