Jobs

Are you a ridiculously good teacher? Visit fluentcity.com/teach to learn more about how to apply to be a Fluent City professor.

Business Manager needed immediately!

An MBA or MBA-level knowledge or experience of small/medium business is required.

Fluent City is a company that is growing extremely quickly and expanding to new cities in new states across the United States. A good way to get a sense of what the company is all about is by spending 5-10 minutes exploring the website at fluentcity.com. We especially recommend that you watch the video on the homepage as well as the other ones found on various pages.

To avoid the problem of growing too quickly and self-imploding, a truly skilled business expert is being sought to take the helm of anything related to company operations, financials, and logistics. Academic Direction (hiring and managing teachers and overseeing curriculums) and Marketing Direction are already taken care of with a full-time staff member for each department. Customer Service and Sales are also taken care of with two full-time staff members who "man the fort" and handle all customer inquiries. Everything else falls under the label of "Business Management". Perhaps a good description for this job is that the person hired will act as sort of a combined CEO/COO/CFO.

The business expert in this new role will work with the owner, Sam, to be the company liaison between the company's corporate lawyer, accountant, payroll company, freelance database developer, bank representative, business consultants, insurance agencies and providers, and anything else having to do with the "business" side of the company. 

It is extremely important that anyone applying for this position also shows an enthusiasm to chip in sometimes for customer and service and sales and anything else that might need to be done at any point during a normal work week. This is still a small enough business to where all hands need to be on deck every now and again. Any hours dedicated to sales and customer service, at least at first, will be a great chance to deeply explore how the company works on an everyday basis, but they will also be helpful in managing the overload during high seasons. In any given month, it is estimated that no more than 20% of your time would be spent on things don't involve high-level business management.

Even though the position will mostly involve work during normal business hours, a willingness to be flexible with scheduling is crucial as well. You may be expected to work some weekday evenings and (although rarely) some Saturday afternoons as well.

You will know you are right for this job if many of these things are true:

-You are sickeningly organized.

-You are ridiculously good with numbers and perfect financial recordkeeping.

-You think that people who don't capitalize their name in the "from" field of an email shouldn't be allowed to have professional interactions online.

-"Spreadsheets" is your middle name.

-You scoff at even the hint of someone suggesting that you are not computer savvy.

-You feel confident that you can effectively manage a small group of people and avoid interpersonal conflicts before they even happen.

-Coordinating various departments or people to achieve one combined goal is second nature to you.

-Ensuring the security of company files and information is constantly at the front of your mind.

-You obsess over things even more than a company's owner does. For example, you'd freak out that the heating system isn't set to automatically shut off each night to save money and figure out how to make it do so.

-"I'm on top of this, don't worry..." is a phrase that is part of your everyday professional life.

-You have no problem being micromanaged by the owner until you've figured out all the nooks and crannies of the business. Even after that point, you are okay with dealing with an owner who is super picky about some things and not picky at all about others, as you confidently help execute his vision.

-You feel that having all your bases covered is the starting point, not the end goal.

BUT, the following should also be true:

-You are fun to be around, easy to work with, jive well with the culture of a very casual office atmosphere, and are ready to do everything you can to ensure the success of a small company...especially as it pertains to any part of your job that increases revenue and decreases company expenses.

-You are the type of person who knows how to professionally deal with other companies and agencies without stuffy language like "Dear Hiring Manager". This means you can effectively communicate in an informal, yet professional, way. You realize that using words like "leverage" and "self starter" are just going to turn off someone who has no idea what they mean instead of impressing them.

You should either have experience or solid knowledge of many of the following things. If you aren't sure about some of them, you feel confident that you can quickly and comprehensively figure out how they work.

-payroll companies (Paychex, ADP)

-HR practices and worker's comp, disability, and health insurance requirements

-developing a simple yet effective employee manual and simple company policies/procedures

-investor distributions and shareholder agreements

-official regulations and permits (compliance) for small businesses

-federal, state, and city taxes, including payroll taxes.

-coordinating bookkeeping and accounting (overseeing Quickbooks, liaising with accountant/bookkeeper, etc.)

-small business legal issues (liaising with lawyer)

-commercial real estate and space management issues and leases (fire codes, tenant's rights, etc.)

-databases (FileMaker Pro, etc.)

-website/e-commerce hosting and email/domain management

-office management (new phone system, better copy/print system, ordering supplies, a "check out" system for distributing keys, etc.)

-business development and partnerships

-business bank accounts and company credit cards

The position is based at the flagship Williamsburg, Brooklyn office and the starting salary offered will be somewhere in the $50-60k range, with the possibility of also earning equity in the company over time. Health insurance can be part of the discussion about salary. Although substantial raises are possible if the company is doing really well after a few months specifically because of your contributions, please don't apply if you would be expecting a much higher salary.

Perks:

-unlimited sick and vacation days, within reason

-super casual office environment: zero dress code (even "business casual" is way too formal for us), work from home and on your own schedule whenever it makes sense.

To Apply

Normally, we think resumés are pointless and an outdated way to apply for a job, but this is one position where we will accept them should you feel inclined to send one. Even with a resumé, though, know that we are much more interested in a short narrative explaining who you are, any experience, and why you think you'd be great for this role. Please focus on your specific strengths and weaknesses, especially as they pertain to items mentioned in this job description.

Ideally, you will submit a short 2-minute video presenting yourself in this way, but 2-3 written paragraphs via email will also work if that isn't possible. If you choose to make a short video, please don't worry about production quality and/or perfectly scripted content. This can be a video that is easily made in a few minutes on your smart phone as if we were doing an quick and informal video chat introduction.

If you are submitting a short video introduction, please send a link to an online video hosting service like YouTube or Vimeo as opposed to attaching the video file to the email. Either way, one-line emails with an attached resume, bad grammar or capitalization, or ones that prove that you didn't read this page thoroughly will be deleted immediately!

You can (and should) address the email to Sam, the owner of Fluent City and send it to sam@fluentcity.com. As of Friday May 17, 2013, we are looking to fill this position extremely quickly, so please don't wait to apply if you are interested.

Fluent City is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate in hiring with regard to race, color, religion, gender, ethnicity or national origin, citizenship status, age, marital status, familial status, sexual orientation, military status, status as a victim of domestic violence, or predisposing genetic characteristics. All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States.