As Director of Finance Operations, Sarah Jimenez manages the complete order-to-cash course of at Department. She began her profession at Department as Supervisor of Billing Operations 5 and a half years in the past with zero direct studies, and now manages three groups with dozens of direct and oblique studies stationed throughout the globe in India, China, London, New York, Chicago, California, and Texas (and her group remains to be hiring!)
When Sarah isn’t at work, she’s both spending time together with her son, learning, enjoying tennis, or gardening (not less than attempting to). On high of this, she dedicates her weekends to philanthropic endeavors. She’s captivated with what she does at work, however is already wanting ahead to a retirement the place group activism turns into her full-time mission.
What would you like folks to find out about Department?
That is the perfect place I’ve ever labored. The belief I obtain to construct and be taught on daily basis is a novel asset of Department, and that’s the framework that enabled me to construct a worldwide group.
What made you select Department?
I joined for the folks, however I’m staying for the influence.
Shortly after I joined, the dialog about founding worker useful resource teams (ERGs) actually bought began. Seeing the chance to construct a worldwide group whereas serving to construct an infrastructure of ERGs that have an effect not solely within the Department group, but additionally outdoors of Department, is what makes me keep. It reaffirmed that that is the place I need to be. Right here, I’ve the chance to not solely construct and scale finance operations, but additionally to assist numerous and sometimes underserved communities by ERG efforts.
What do you’re keen on about your job?
Folks. 100%. Palms down. Particularly, I like the variety of my group. I’ve all the time had the precedence of a various group, however I by no means imagined we might accomplish it to the size that now we have.
How does the variety of your group influence your day-to-day work?
Variety influences the whole lot. Each choice that we make, each challenge that we work on is made higher with a various group of individuals. Everybody brings their distinctive and specific perspective to each challenge or downside, and I’d say that is likely one of the issues that has made us most profitable through the years.
What motivates you at work on daily basis?
Firstly of my profession, I used to be results-driven. I used to be metrics-focused on a regular basis, and I realized rather a lot alongside the best way. At this stage of my profession, significantly at a startup like Department, I’ve realized that there’s extra to work than metrics. Department is transferring quick, so now I’m people-driven in all that I do.
Working as a supervisor, I have to have my group as my primary precedence and ensure we will discover pleasure within the number of tasks we tackle in a fast-moving firm. Once I come to work with a people-first mentality, the outcomes observe.
How has being a girl of coloration impacted your profession?
It’s impacted me fairly a bit, however I attempt to function with out listening to whether or not I appear like everybody else within the room or not. Once I began at Department, it was a small group and I observed that I’m a part of a minority. Now, particularly with the revamp of VIVA, an ERG serving the Hispanic and Latinx group, I’m becoming a member of conferences and seeing massive teams of people that share my expertise and my historical past. Seeing how a lot we’ve grown as a various firm makes me really feel that I’m one in all many, giving me a way of empowerment.
Now I don’t have a look at my skilled self primarily based on the place I come from or that I’m a girl. Now I consider myself as an expert primarily based on what I do on daily basis. Everybody right here is on an equal enjoying subject and my identification isn’t one thing that makes me really feel separate at work. These issues that do play a task outdoors of labor don’t play a task in how I come to Department on daily basis.
What’s the greatest piece of recommendation you’ve acquired in your profession?
If issues are usually not going proper in relation to a gaggle or particular person not performing, your first thought ought to be to search for issues within the course of.
As a frontrunner, you need to have a look at a gaggle or an individual struggling as a chance to raised set them up for achievement, fairly than blaming them for poor efficiency. As a supervisor, your focus ought to all the time be making processes and assets higher for everybody in your group, making certain they really feel supported and motivated in doing good work.
