Inside TARGIT Careers: Alex’s Journey From Student Employee to Chief Financial Officer

Originally published August 16, 2022. Updated September 16, 2024
Audra Balsley
Audra Balsley
3 min read
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At TARGIT, we’re committed to developing impactful, intuitive solutions for our clients across the globe. Behind this commitment is a team of dedicated experts with experience in business intelligence, data analysis, key verticals, and more.

Our employees are the heart of our organization. We wouldn’t be where we are today without their determination, skill sets, and drive to bring new ideas to our solutions and customers.

One such employee is Alexander Petersen. Once a curious graduate student and research analyst, Alex has evolved his role and his employee brand within TARGIT, bringing new insights and business developments to fruition along the way.

This post will recount Alex’s professional journey in TARGIT from student employee to department head.


Joining TARGIT as a Student Research Analyst


Originally from Denmark, Alex was an exchange student living in New York City when he first heard about TARGIT in 2017. He didn’t know much about the organization. Still, as a cultural studies student, he was excited at the prospect of working for an international software company, so he applied for a brand new role: Market Research Analyst.

Alex became a part-time employee at the beginning of 2018, splitting his time between his Master’s thesis and research at TARGIT for about six months. After graduation, he began working at TARGIT full time.


Making an Impact Across Departments


Next, Alex made the leap from marketing to sales. He became TARGIT’s internal Sales Operations Manager after working closely with the department’s director during his time as an Analyst. Alex says that part of the reason he stayed with TARGIT was due to the organization’s unique flexibility compared to larger organizations that often rely on bureaucratic structures and rigid career pathing.

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“At TARGIT, the path to making an impact is not as long as it is in enterprise organizations.” He explains, “It doesn’t take years to climb the corporate ladder so you can get in touch with decision-makers who value your ideas and opinions.”

Due to TARGIT’s lateral structure — and Alex’s professional skills — he’s become a familiar face within the organization. Leadership teams and colleagues recognize his passion, work ethic, and innovative ideas. Employees are encouraged to have transparent conversations with their managers and champion new ideas, no matter their title or tenure.

As Alex puts it, “If I went to a manager and spoke up about a problem, or told them that something about my current role wasn’t fruitful for me, they would acknowledge and address it right away.”

TARGIT allows Alex and other employees to pursue professional development opportunities they’re genuinely interested in and do work they enjoy each day. The company also creates opportunities for employees to network and attend industry events, not just to drive sales but to help its employees develop their professional brands and grow their networks.

Leading Revenue Operations at TARGIT


After working with the sales team, Alex was promoted to TARGIT’s Head of Revenue Operations and helped establish the company's new Revenue Operations department.

Alex explains the importance of this ‘full circle’ moment for himself and his new teammates. “The journey into revenue operations was equal parts exciting and intimidating. It gave me a new sense of purpose and accomplishment, and I was able to help people start their careers and make their own impact at TARGIT.”

In this role, Alex managed the company’s commercial data, reporting, systems, and processes to ensure high data quality. Much of the Revenue Operations team's work centered around contracts and subscriptions. They focused on ensuring the company had all the correct contracts in place and invoicing was correct across all contract types. 

 

Stepping Into a Management Role

 

The newest chapter of Alex's career journey has been quite an exciting one. When TARGIT decided to consolidate several departments at the start of 2024, Alex's knowledge and experience with sales and revenue operations made him a frontrunner for a side-step promotion into a new role, where he would manage the newly combined Revenue Operations, Finance, Admin, and HR teams as TARGIT's Chief Financial Officer (CFO). 

"It’s not a natural step from Revenue Operations to Finance," Alex explains. "What made me think it was right for me and TARGIT was that we already have a strong, tenured finance team in place, who helped me upskill in the areas I didn't already know. It’s been a steep learning curve for me, but TARGIT gives me a lot of opportunities to grow."

Alex believes a big part of TARGIT's career opportunities come from the size of the company and the natural cross-departmental collaboration between multiple teams. At TARGIT, work often overlaps and intersects between departments, which means a lot of teamwork and contributions from many team members with skillsets in various business areas. "We are big enough to have an international presence but small enough that we aren’t rigid or siloed. You can easily explore different things." 

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Today, Alex and the rest of the Finance team are still focused on the contract management side of the business. They work behind the scenes to account for all the operational and financial implications of TARGIT's evolution into a fully functioning SaaS company, including changes to contracts and how the company reports on various numbers. 

No matter where the future takes him, Alex continues to credit his professional journey to TARGIT’s agile company culture: “At a large enterprise, the road is paved for you before you arrive. At TARGIT, there are many directions to take when it comes to career development. If your skills and interests take you somewhere else, you can still use them at TARGIT. This flexibility benefits both the company and the people who work here. ”


Make an Impact on the TARGIT Team


Alex is just one of many employees making an impact on TARGIT and our customers every single day. If you’d like to join our team or learn more about the values that drive us, visit the TARGIT Careers page.

Explore TARGIT Careers

EXPLORE TARGIT CAREERS
Originally published August 16, 2022. Updated September 16, 2024