Kevin Burke
Director, Financial Systems & Financial Reporting
DJO, LLC
Kevin Burke has worked primarily in the Life Science and Medical Devices industries, where change is the norm. That means that he has been challenged to design and grow their systems to accommodate a constantly changing environment. He headed the implementation of Hyperion Financial Management (HFM) at Thermo Fisher Scientific in Carlsbad (at the time it was Invitrogen, Inc). He also teamed up to design and implement the Hyperion Planning applications to complement HFM reporting. All in all, Kevin spent nearly 5 years in FP&A and Consolidations and 2 years as the Mergers and Acquisition Finance partner.
Kevin will be one of the distinguished speakers at the 9th Semi-Annual Life Science Financial Forum.
Why is the 9th Semi-Annual Life Science Financial Forum important for finance executives?
The demands of the finance executive in the Life Sciences industry are constantly growing and evolving. You are not alone! Forums like this are important to share experiences, lessons learned, and see what’s trending.
What initiatives are on the horizon for your team in 2016-2017?
One big initiative at DJO for my Financial Systems team is developing a forecasting system that can be quick, efficient, and accurate, without losing the details that supports our results.
What tools & platforms does your team utilize for strategic planning and forecasting? Or what tools & platforms are you interested in learning more about?
We heavily use the Oracle Hyperion suite of products for our strategic planning and forecasting. It is a blend of Essbase and Financial Planning.
What are 3 key characteristics/competencies you look for when hiring finance talent?
- Must know how to query and mine data: It demonstrates the willingness to roll up the sleeves and be self-sufficient
- Proven success in team-oriented projects: Being able to effectively work, communicate, and execute in teams
- Demonstrates one’s ability to be engaged
- Fosters deeper understanding by sharing different POVs with others
- Emphasizes personal accountability for one’s areas of responsibility
- Willingness and acceptance that you will make mistakes, but you must learn from them
What is one thing you hope to learn or discuss with your peers at the 9th Semi-Annual Life Science Financial Forum?
I’d like to learn other peoples’ approaches to strategic forecasting and what systems they prefer to use. Additionally, I’d like to learn about their challenges in forecasting and solutions that have found to improve the process.
