Ian Grier (09) never would have anticipated that his career in finance would lead from PLNU’s financial department to the payroll for the San Francisco Giants; however, his hard work and reliance on God’s calling has taken him to unexpected places.
“I’ve been blessed to have some grand opportunities, but I didn’t really have a roadmap,” Grier said. “I definitely feel like there have been some bread crumbs to lead me along the way, and looking back, I can see how those connections have led me to where I am today. It’s really cool to do that.”
Grier was born and raised in Chula Vista, California, and when the decision for college was coming near, Grier was moving away from the idea of going to an out-of-state college. After visiting the Point Loma campus and after having other close friends commit to PLNU for the next four years, Grier knew that his choice was obvious.
“Once I stepped foot on Point Loma’s campus, there was no other place for me,” Grier stated.
Grier knew that he wanted to attend a Christian university for his four years of college, but what made Point Loma stand out from the other campuses for Grier was what he described as a “family feeling.” He really liked the diverse religious environment of Point Loma and how other students were asking big questions about their faith. Seeing students and faculty of different denominations and departments support each other in their faith journey was a very positive experience for Grier, and he feels that the impact of this has carried over into his career now.
“Once I stepped foot on Point Loma’s campus, there was no other place for me.”
Going into college, Grier was not sure what career path he wanted to take. He knew that he wanted to be involved in the world of business and possibly own his own business but did not know what that would even look like. Grier warmingly described how helpful the faculty of the Fermanian School of Business was in helping him in his journey at PLNU.
Grier was very involved with Residential Life as a resident assistant in Goodwin Hall and described how the connections he made within that circle are still alive to this day.
“It was great meeting those people, we are all still friends,” Grier said. “I was in their weddings and they were in mine. That’s how close the friendships were and still are.”
One of the biggest aspects of Point Loma that drew Grier to the university was its Concert Choir, led by Dr. Daniel Jackson until his passing in July 2025. As a member of his high school’s concert choir, Grier’s choir director encouraged him to continue to pursue music, and Grier eventually ended up in Dr. Jackson’s living room for an audition.
Grier described how it was fun and “an honor” to be able to interact with music majors and students from all different majors, and he was able to be involved with Concert Choir for his entire Point Loma career. Grier stayed connected with Dr. Jackson as close friends and now warmingly remembers his legacy.
During his post-graduate life, Grier found himself trying to figure out next steps for his career. His business degree was very broad, and he was interested in many different areas of business.
After the financial crisis of 2008, the business world was very hard to be hired into. Grier connected with a friend that he attended Point Loma with who was working for a small mom-and-pop business that manufactures labels. He was connected to the business for an interview and was eventually hired for his first post-college job.
“It was my first real job, and it was amazing,” Grier described. “I got to work with numbers. I got to order materials, I got to build things and ship things and send invoices to people. I was there for five years, and I really enjoyed it.”
After working for this family-owned business, Grier found a job listing on LinkedIn for a position at Point Loma. He described how he missed being on campus and being a part of the Loma environment. Grier got hired at a position running payroll for PLNU’s financial department which eventually became a stepping-stone towards his current job.
Grier originally was hired to PLNU’s financial department because of the university’s switch to Workday as their primary program for payroll and billing. Grier and one other person took over the department in order to get the program up and running within the college. His responsibilities included running payroll for staff, students and faculty within a matter of days — rather than the weeks it took previously. This experience working with Workday is eventually what led to Grier landing a job with the Giants.
Grier described how different it was being on campus as an employee versus as a student. He was interacting with professors and faculty members that he had always seen in those authority positions, but now he wasn’t a student anymore. Grier got to see his professors from a different perspective and felt instantly welcomed as a peer.
Looking back on his journey at Point Loma and his career now with the Giants, Grier can see how the connections and friendships he made during his college years and time at PLNU as an employee have guided him along the way, despite not feeling confident in his path right out of college.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, Grier felt that God was telling him that it was time to move on to another job. A lot of people who he had been working with for a long time were beginning to move to other jobs as well, and when Grier discovered the job listing for the Giants, he felt it was a sign to apply.
At the beginning of the hiring process, Grier did not know that he was applying for a job with the San Francisco Giants because they couldn’t advertise it as such. So, when the CFO disclosed that information during Grier’s third interview, he knew that he wanted this job more than anything. The company was looking for someone with experience using Workday, and Grier was confident after his interview with the CFO that he was a shoe-in for this job.
One of the things that really drew Grier into the job was that he felt the same energy from the Giants community that he felt while he was attending and working for Point Loma. Grier and the other two people that are a part of his team were all hired on the same day, and he feels that they have grown and navigated the company together.
Grier goes into the office three days a week on average with the rest of his team to work on projects together and bounce ideas off each other. There is one other payroll manager that Grier works with directly and a payroll specialist that answers directly to him. The three of them run payroll for the entire company: everything from coaches to security to vendors to Minor League Baseball teams.
Grier specializes in player payroll, so he is directly responsible for the paychecks of Major and Minor League Giants players. He also works with the event staff and hourly employees that work at the ballpark. A lot of his daily job includes paying people but also answering emails, updating the system, and helping people get their time entered correctly so that everyone gets paid for their work.
“It is far different from any other job I’ve had or any other job that I’ve heard people describing,” Grier said. “It is just so exciting.”
Even though Grier grew up as a Padres fan, he described how exciting it is to be a part of a West Coast baseball team that is doing so well. When he was hired in October of 2021, Buster Posey had just retired, and Grier described how he was disappointed that he wouldn’t get to experience being a part of the Giants’ team with Posey. However, when it was disclosed that Posey would be a part-owner of the Giants, Grier was excited to be able to see his leadership and his positive impact on the team. This is just one of the many exciting stories that Grier shared during his interview.
“It is far different from any other job I’ve had or any other job that I’ve heard people describing. It is just so exciting.”
Grier initially moved to Alameda in 2021 and took the ferry to work everyday, but he also continued to spend a lot of time in San Diego, where a majority of his family still lives. Grier also spends a lot of time in the U.K, where his wife lives full time.
