The GRID Team has grown significantly over the last couple of years, and with the team expanding has come the establishment and further development of different teams across the company. Of course, with GRID going strong for roughly 5 years now there are many team members that have been here for a while. However, there are also many GRIDers who are in the beginning years of their GRID story.
In this edition of Meet the Team, we interviewed someone who’s 1-year anniversary at GRID is just around the corner, Harry Harrison, one of GRID’s Financial Accountants. Despite joining in 2022, Harry has been an important part of multiple developments improving the quality of everyone’s day-to-day work and is looking forward to what his future holds as a GRIDer.
Where do you primarily work from? Are you based in one of GRID’s offices, or are you working remotely?
I work as a Financial Accountant in the heart of Berlin and split my place of work between the office and home, which allows me the flexibility to plan my working week ahead.
I will also try to visit GRID’s office in Wrocław, Poland on a quarterly basis to meet GRID’s other financial accountant to share and learn useful financial insights from both Germany and Poland and keep team-morale in high spirits!
What does your day-to-day look like as GRID’s Financial Accountant?
I always imagine my role as that of a ‘film producer’ where I am working ‘behind the scenes’ to ensure that everything is running swiftly and in good stead. Whether I am reconciling accounts to ensure that everything is balanced or setting up payments to ensure suppliers are paid on time, I like to think that by playing my part, the ‘actors’ at GRID can continue to make the movie and progress.
What led you to join GRID as a part of the Finance Team? Was there a unique draw to your position with accounting as a part of esports?
Prior to GRID, I was fortunate to have studied and qualified at my local accountancy firm where I was able to attain the ‘ACCA’ qualification whilst gaining experience of preparing financial accounts from a range of different industries. As I progressed through my training and built up my ‘toolbox’ of professional skills, I was able to start to plan and pinpoint the direction I wanted my future to go.
As I have always been a fan of computer games (I owned my first PlayStation when I was 5), I wanted to see if I could work in this sector whilst in an international environment to further expand my knowledge. So, you could only imagine my immense delight when I found out that GRID was hiring for this role, I have never looked back since!
Your one-year anniversary is just around the corner — congrats! Can you walk us through your first year on the team?
Thank you! I still can’t believe I have started a new job and moved to another country all in the same year!
When I first joined GRID, it was a completely new Finance Team so we really had to hit the ground running. Luckily, I couldn’t have asked for a better manager as we are nearly always on the same page and support each other in a variety of tasks. It has been so pleasing to see how much we have transformed the finance processes at GRID, as well as hiring another financial accountant to help build and strengthen the Finance Team.
One of our huge successes in 2022 was the implementation and introduction of a new financial management solution to the wider team. We were able to deliver this comprehensive project in addition to all our high workload and daily activities.
What I particularly like at GRID is the fact that you can really make a difference and learn so much more about yourself and what you are truly capable of. Having worked in an organization where there is a tendency to be micromanaged, it is great that at GRID you can work independently and develop ideas, whilst remaining highly motivated and developing positive working relationships both inside and outside the Finance Team! I am looking forward to continuing to work in such a thriving, positive, international environment.
What project/task are you currently most excited about in your position and why?
Many GRIDers are traveling the world for conferences and business meetings and I am excited to see travel processes being streamlined, thus saving time of everyone involved in managing the operational part of it — our team can focus on bringing GRID to the world and my and the Finance Team’s work is much easier.
With regards to new projects, I am intrigued at reading and analyzing professional articles, clauses, and information about the German tax law. It is always important to keep up to date and understand the situation and its influence on GRID and the Finance Team’s activities.
How would you describe what GRID does as a company?
GRID is a data platform for the game industry enabling extraction, management, monetization, and distribution of in-game data assets. GRID places itself at the center of the data ecosystem within competitive gaming and works with server data, which is rich, granular, and fast.
Speaking from experience, GRID also thrives on being pragmatic. I think the saying ‘in with the new and out with old’ fits well as GRID will look at making the best decisions rather than holding on to rigid processes and procedures.
We have quite a diverse group at GRID with many different interests. What are some of your favorite hobbies outside of work?
GRID offers discounted memberships for Urban Sports Club, so I decided to take advantage of this, and it was one of the best decisions. I can go swimming at many locations in Berlin, which has been great for my mental health and fitness. I would highly recommend this to everyone!
Aside from sport, one of my biggest passions is ‘Eurovision’, which I think would not come as a surprise to all my family and friends. I was actually very lucky to go with my best friend to the recent ‘Eurovision Song Contest’ in the UK (my home country) where we could watch the final in person and be surrounded with lots of other fans from different nationalities all sharing the same love of music!
Keep an eye out for the next edition of Meet the Team in July!
If you are interested in learning more about GRID or current job openings, head to our career page.
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