Julie Brink

Designer Brands is one of North America’s largest designers, producers, and retailers of footwear and accessories, with $3.1 billion in annual revenue.

• Finance & Accounting Leadership: Leads three critical operational accounting teams—Property Accounting, Accounts Payable Shared Services, and Inventory Control—overseeing more than 30 professionals across the U.S. And Canada. Provides financial governance and ensures compliance with GAAP, SOX, and internal controls.
• Strategic Change Management & IT Integrations: Drives change management initiatives related to IT upgrades, business transformations, and M&A integrations. Served as Post Go-Live ERP Implementation Director, ensuring system stability, process optimization, and continuous improvement post-Oracle ERP implementation.
• Executive & Audit Committee Engagement: Regularly presents financial updates, governance insights, and IT transformation impacts to the DBI's quarterly Audit Committee meetings to the Company's Board of Directors, executive leadership, internal and external auditors. Led the first Oracle Segregation of Duties (SOD) review, strengthening SOX compliance.
• Process Optimization & Policy Development: Oversees P2P processes, vendor payments, inventory control and lease accounting for 700+ locations. Led SOX control streamlining, reducing redundant processes across finance functions. Developed and implemented the company's Travel & Expense Policy, ensuring alignment with corporate governance.

• Corporate Accounting and Financial Leadership: Provides strategic leadership over corporate accounting, managing five direct reports and a team of 13+ professionals. Oversees key accounting functions, including ERP implementation, property accounting, external reporting, and corporate accounting.
• Financial Reporting and Compliance: Leads the preparation of consolidated financial statements, SEC filings (10-Q/K), and earnings releases, ensuring compliance with GAAP, SOX, and financial reporting requirements. Supports internal and external audits and provides governance over Oracle ARCS and financial reporting controls.
• ERP & System Implementations: Directed an 18-month Oracle Fusion ERP, ARCS, and FCCS implementation across multiple business units, leading the Chart of Accounts (COA) redesign, data validation strategy, and system integrations. Oversaw the re-implementation of Oracle FCCS, including cash flow functionality.
• Process Optimization & Policy Development: Developed and implemented policies for Fixed Assets, Intercompany, COA Maintenance, and FX to enhance month-end close and financial consolidation. Led a major team reorganization post-2021, creating SOPs, training guides, and process documentation to ensure continuity.
• Strategic Initiatives and Executive Engagement: Advises senior leadership on accounting and reporting compliance, business initiatives, and acquisitions. Presents financial updates to the Board’s Audit Committee, executive leadership, and external auditors. Successfully led a high-profile review of 650+ lease agreements in under 30 days in collaboration with Real Estate and Legal teams.

• Supervised five direct reports (one supervisor, two SFAs, and two FAs), with the team accountable for the corporate accounting function and the consolidation of the monthly DBI balance sheet, P&L, internal reporting, and the team’s SOX controls.
• Managed day-to-day operations, as well as period-end close duties for departments that include Home Office, Executive, Facilities, Finance, Human Resources, Legal, Loss Prevention, Marketing, Merch Analysis/Operations, Merchandising, Innovation, Planning, Real Estate, Store Expenses, Store Operations, and Store Planning & Construction.
• Owned consolidation framework that ensured accurate and reliable consolidation and financial reporting to key stakeholders, including FP&A, tax, and external reporting.
• Oversaw internal monthly, quarterly, and annual financial reporting.
• Assisted in reviewing analyst materials and 10-Q/10-K reports.
• Performed quarter-end reporting for external reporting, ad hoc reporting, and other analyses for senior management.
• Maintained the integrity of the chart of accounts and the related mapping between GLs, Oracle FCCS, and related financial systems.
• Recruited and brought in to lead a 9-month project to implement the Oracle FCCS consolidation tool to facilitate the consolidation of DBI’s two newly acquired businesses: Camuto Group and Designer Brands Canada.
• Created a timeline, RAID tracker, and detailed steps and decisions needed throughout the project duration following the departure of the project manager.
• Reduced consolidation time by over 50% (from 4 business days to less than 2 business days), in addition to reducing the number of people required to assist with the tie-out process.
• Participated in the implementation of the Oracle ARCS account reconciliation tool.
• Lifted and shifted account reconciliations for the DSW business from Blackline in ARCS, providing real-time close status reporting across all DBI businesses.
• Identified and drafted several new consolidation SOX controls, improving audit readiness.
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• Company Overview: Division of Smiths Group plc., a British multinational diversified engineering business with $4.1 billion in annual revenue and 23,550 employees in over 50 countries
• Reviewed and updated existing accounting policies and procedures
• Strengthened control environment through proactive process improvements
• Primary owner of Transfer Pricing and Foreign Exchange Management Program
• Remediated Oracle user Segregation of Duty conflicts and maintained controls around Oracle user responsibilities through governance risk and compliance (GRC)
• Owned global Oracle chart of accounts, including 4,600 account combinations, across 38 global legal entities
• Reviewed global intercompany transactions and worked closely with accounting teams to resolve intercompany accounting errors
• Reviewed Divisional monthly balance sheet and P&L variance reports and presented results to Finance Leadership team during monthly operating results call
• Forecasted and budgeted divisional balance sheet, maintained assumptions and other key metrics (DSO and DPO) that supported working capital accounts and uploaded budget into Hyperion
• Prepared annual goodwill impairment analysis presented to Smiths Group and external auditors
• Managed requests from external auditors for divisional financial statements
• Managed daily FX hedging operations, FX exposure analysis, and reported monthly results to senior leadership
• Oversaw Transfer Pricing program, which included $75 - $80 million of Transfer Pricing adjustments between entities, including ownership of global Transfer Pricing policy, intercompany legal agreements and amendments
• Managed Foreign Exchange Program ($400 million in foreign exchange transactions), including hedge accounting, cash flow forecasting, and monthly foreign exchange (FX) report presentation (P&L impact of FX transactions and balance sheet revaluations year over year, as well as vs
• Budget) to CFO, Senior Director of FP&A, and Senior Director of Financial Services
• Protected profitability of business from FX financial risk by identifying exposures and implementing cash flow hedges
• Constructed new FX forecasting model used to project FX impact for rest-of-year outlook to successfully streamlined and increased FX forecasting efficiency and accuracy
• Centralized and developed new FX program to 1 uniformed process performed by 1 financial analyst and reduced preparation time for month end hedge accounting by more than 84% (from 6 hours to less than 1 hour each month)
• Increased oversight and internal controls for newly executed hedge contracts resulting in fewer errors
• FX Program Centralization: Improved productivity and efficiency through centralization of FX program
• Reduced headcount and trained direct report preparing cash forecast, engaging in hedges, and tightening controls for engaging in hedge contracts
• Reduced month end preparation time for hedge accounting from 6 hours to 1 hour (60 hours annually)
• Increased visibility and decreased errors, leading to more accurate and faster reporting to senior leadership
• Led global finance teams to strengthen internal controls, resulting almost 100% compliance for account reconciliations and monthly control submission across 38 legal entities
• Produced reporting package that drove submission rate for monthly controls from 60% in FY 2016 to 100% in FY 2018, while also driving submission rate for account reconciliations from less than 60% in FY 2016 to 96% in FY 2018
• Successfully managed strict IFRS 15 project timelines by coordinating bi-weekly virtual meetings across 7 time zones within Americas, EMEA and APAC regions
• Regularly presented status to over 60 finance colleagues, senior leadership, and CFO
• Managed project through regional approach to accommodate diverse business models and global sales markets
• Completed project plan including regional revenue scoping memos, detailed review of over 500 global customer contracts, coordination of contract translation from various languages into English, and disaggregation of revenue by revenue type, contract type, and expected recognition (point in time or over time) for FY18 year-end reporting disclosures and compliance
• Division of Smiths Group plc., a British multinational diversified engineering business with $4.1 billion in annual revenue and 23,550 employees in over 50 countries

• Company Overview: Division of Smiths Group plc., a British multinational diversified engineering business with $4.1 billion in annual revenue and 23,550 employees in over 50 countries
• Supported and led Divisional Control activities including transfer pricing, foreign exchange reporting and global month end and year end closing
• Worked closely with Smiths Group plc in London, UK and local finance teams to ensure timely and accurate submission of financial statements
• Remediated Segregation of Duty conflicts within Oracle ERP system and maintained controls around Oracle user responsibilities
• Directed global implementation of Blackline cloud-based accounting software to assist and provide real-time close results for 38 legal entities and their 1,700 monthly account reconciliations and 400 monthly controls
• Researched design requirements and business needs
• Designed project plan and worked with finance colleagues to establish global settings and functionality that aligned with organization’s structure
• Collected and requested data from 20 finance colleagues to customize account reconciliations within platform and tailored each entity’s account reconciliation to reflect account reconciliation process
• Communicated project plan, including deadlines, milestones and achievements to Vice President of Global Financial Services and Finance Directors
• Held face-to-face meetings and conference calls, across seven time zones, during implementation and go-live phases
• Reduced monthly review of minimum control compliance from 8 hours to less than 20 minutes
• Continued as resource after go-live to support updates and changes in account reconciliation and task modules for all of Smiths Medical
• Assisted in establishing new processes to improve efficiency and consistency during month end across global finance
• Served as resident Blackline expert and consultant to Smiths Detection Division during its implementation in 2017
• Established Global Uniform Transfer Price process designed to smooth FX impact; initiated monthly and quarterly process that included estimating transfer pricing adjustments, still in use
• Implemented Blackline as part of European reorganization designed to move local finance teams across Europe to 1 shared service center in UK
• Traveled to Germany and France to meet with teams, learn business models, and walk through monthly close processes
• Assisted project team with implementation of Hyperion, working closely with external consultants on design requirements
• Prepared and delivered Hyperion Global training through media training videos distributed to global finance teams; significantly reduced rollout costs and provided tracking of employee completion status
• Led FX management program and identified opportunities to strengthen program
• Made recommendation to Group Treasury to hedge on $6 million monthly transfer pricing adjustment, which was approved
• Member of Women’s Leadership Network (WLN)
• Nominated in 2016, by three senior leaders, for Women's Leadership Network to serve as co-chair for Dublin, Ohio Shared Service Center and Manufacturing site
• Served as lead in developing local branch; presented WLN to colleagues and attended global submit at Minneapolis headquarters
• Division of Smiths Group plc., a British multinational diversified engineering business with $4.1 billion in annual revenue and 23,550 employees in over 50 countries

• Company Overview: Independent US-led global sourcing company with specialization in apparel, with more than 750 associates in 13 countries
• Managed company’s inventory control process and ensured timely and accurate posting of inventory ledger and general ledger transactions
• Led monthly general ledger close process, including preparation of monthly journal entries and account reconciliations
• Prepared annual year-end financial statements
• Assisted on project team for implementation of Microsoft AX, a new ERP system for multicurrency manufacturing business
• Independent US-led global sourcing company with specialization in apparel, with more than 750 associates in 13 countries