Milwaukee Brewers Tap Turnkey Search to Fill VP HR and CFO Roles
February 7, 2018 – Sports and entertainment recruitment firm Turnkey Search has been enlisted by the Milwaukee Brewers professional baseball team to lead its search for both a vice president of human resources and chief financial officer.
The VP of HR is expected to establish the Brewers’ HR function as a fully-integrated, highly communicative and innovative internal resource, said Turnkey.
The new leader will be responsible for maximizing both the organization’s people assets and future growth opportunities.
The responsibilities of the role are wide-ranging, said the search firm. The VP of HR will be charged with serving as a highly-integrated, high-impact partner to all of the organization’s executives and employees. The person will be called upon to build, direct and coach the internal HR team to provide consistently excellent service to all business lines.
Championing Diversity
The individual who wins the role must also drive strategy creation and implementation to realize the franchise’s talent acquisition, talent management, organizational and people development needs and goals, said Turnkey. The job also calls for championing diversity initiatives and building best-in-class internship and development programs to attract and organically develop in-house talent.
The vice president of HR must also produce training and development initiatives to provide additional learning and growth opportunities for internal staff, said Turnkey, and work with department leaders to identify materials for continued development of the staff.
The job will require the new leader to drive the development of the Brewers’ onboarding programming, fully immersing new employees into the company culture and introducing all policies, benefits and resources available.
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Another aspect of the role is to partner with all managers to evaluate current team performance, identify ways to elevate productivity and output, and create all development initiatives to realize optimum team performance and integration, said the recruitment firm.
Meeting Qualifications
Candidates should have seven to 10 years of experience in human resources, preferably in sports, entertainment, hospitality or a related field. It is preferred that they have experience with high-impact HR models, said the search firm. Prospects should also be able to adapt to an ever-changing environment and use creativity and strategic thinking to help develop internal policy and procedure.
The Brewers want someone who is highly analytical, detail-oriented, thorough and collaborative. Exceptional communication skills are essential, said Turnkey. And though the organization prefers that candidates have experience in Workday, it is not required.
Financial Oversight
The chief financial officer, meanwhile, will provide direct, hands-on leadership for the financial operation of the Brewers organization and related entities, including the direction of all finance, accounting, reporting and treasury said Turnkey Search. The CFO will also be responsible for direct financial oversight of the Carolina Mudcats, the Brewers’ Class-A minor league affiliate, as well as Performance Clean, a sports venue cleaning company that oversees cleaning of the team’s stadium, Miller Park.
The CFO will lead and optimize the company’s financial management, partnering with internal and external constituents to optimize procedures and controls in order to increase P&L profit margins, said the search firm. The CFO will also partner with department leaders to establish annual goals and identify future growth opportunities for the individual lines of business and overall initiatives.
Candidates should have eight to 10 years of financial leadership experience, said the search firm. Experience as a stand-alone CFO is preferred, but not required. Likewise, the organization would like prospects to have experience as a senior financial leader of a professional sports team or other live entertainment organization, but a background outside of those industries will be considered. Experience working in sectors adjacent to sports and entertainment, such as hospitality, media and gaming is also a plus.
CFO Requirements
CFO candidates must have diversity of experience across a broad range of functional finance areas including: financial planning and analysis, accounting and controls, budgeting, treasury and taxes.
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Other qualifications that the team seeks in its next CFO are: excellent understanding and demonstrated success in building, motivating and leading high-performance teams; a proven developer of employee talents; demonstrated communication, time management and organizational skills; and a proven ability to multi-task and manage projects on strict deadlines.
A Search for VP IT Underway
A track record of adding value to the strategic growth and direction of the company, while still maintaining an ability to be very hands on and detail oriented, is essential, said Turnkey. The team also wants someone with a demonstrated ability to think proactively as well as a confident decision maker who will challenge the status quo by finding creative financial solutions, while remaining sensitive to the complexities and multidimensional aspects of the company.
Turnkey Search is also in the midst of searching for a VP of information technology for the Brewers. That role involves leading and overseeing aspects of the team’s information technology department. The individual in this role will be responsible for creating and supporting a best-in-class technology department that services the fast-paced and evolving demands of the organization, including the business and baseball operations departments, and the team’s affiliates.
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This individual, said the search firm, will be responsible for strategic planning toward a technology plan and implementation that is designed to meet the unique needs of the Brewers’ various departments, and must have an advanced understanding of cutting-edge technology, systems, system design and security. The VP will effectively manage the day-to-day operations of the IT department, and will implement progressive technological systems and processes that improve efficiency, cohesion and customized automation across the entire organization.
Experienced Recruiters
Established in 1996, Turnkey Search has conducted more than 1,000 executive recruiting placements across the entire landscape of the sports & entertainment industry. It has completed executive searches for president of the new NHL expansion team in Las Vegas, CFO of the Atlanta Hawks, CRO of the Anaheim Ducks, CMO of the Cleveland Browns and Oakland Raiders, and it placed athletics directors at Michigan, Minnesota, Georgia Tech, Bowling Green and other Division I institutions.
The firm, which is based in Haddonfield, NJ, has also handled more than 100 executive searches in Major League Baseball, including: Boston Red Sox (sponsorship sales); Chicago Cubs (multiple roles including sponsorships, operations, game experience); Los Angeles Dodgers (multiple roles including CEO, CFO, SVP of sales); Milwaukee Brewers (heads of marketing, communications, sales, finance, and other roles); New York Mets (directors of marketing and social media); Tampa Bay Rays (sales, marketing, HR and other roles); Toronto Blue Jays (SVP of business operations); and Washington Nationals (staffed entire organization when they relocated to D.C.).
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Will Schatz, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
