Russ Harju

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT RUSS HARJU

I am a senior finance manager on a never-ending journey of continued education and self-improvement. When I reflect on where I have been happiest in my career, it’s when two forces come together.1) An environment of continuous learning2) A flexible and innovative team to test and apply new ideasKnowing how important continuous learning is for my professional well-being, I took steps to ensure that regardless of my environment, I could fulfill this need independently. My learning includes gaining multiple finance specific certifications, industry-specific publications/events, as well as learning from other industries, career fields, and even biographies from another time altogether. My passion for learning could set me up for a life of academia, but I love seeing tactics and processes go into action too much. With age and experience, I’ve learned to find the balance in my requests between tried and true methods, and out of the box thinking, to ensure my finance focused team doesn’t become merely a testing ground. Beyond the opportunity to learn and apply those learnings, I am like every other human on the planet- I want to be part of a winning team. I want to work arm in arm with my colleagues in a continuous quest for excellence. My work with P&L owners as their finance partner has been extremely rewarding as I’m able to bring new clarity to results and advise on go-forward profit opportunities and risks. Most rewarding though has been helping members of my team grow and advance in their own careers. Playing even a small part in helping others become more successful is the most enduring success I can achieve. I’ve been regularly recognized for displaying excellence across the following skillsets: • Establishing organization and standardization• Excellent written and verbal communication• Incredible sense of dependability and accountability• Developer of cultures and teams