From Captain to Amazon Head of Instock Management

I was a Captain in the Royal Signals, serving for 6 years. I led a troop on operations, running communications detachments around Helmand; commanded a training team delivering basic training to new soldiers; and served in a squadron delivering specialist communications support to worldwide operations. 

Upon leaving the Army, I did an MBA at the University of Oxford. My next step was to take a corporate strategy role in the Middle East. However, I found that white boarding ideas for others to execute did not excite me, and I missed the ownership that comes with being part of an operational machine. Instock management at Amazon offered an opportunity to sit at the intersection of Amazon's Consumer technology, physical operations, and customers, and I was sold. 

I am now Head of Instock Management for UK Consumables. This means I am responsible for product availability and driving operational excellence with our vendors, and taking cost out of our inbound supply chain for fast moving consumer goods. I lead a team of 8 Instock Managers and program managers, who own initiatives covering topics as diverse as driving 'perfect inbound', packaging sustainability, and reducing out of stocks. Doing what we do truly feeds our flywheel - our work drives more selection, greater convenience, and lower prices for customers. 

Amazon's focus on leadership principles allowed me to play to my strengths and reflect on what had done throughout my career. To do well, you need to reflect on the LPs, and how they map to your experience. Your career history in the military will have demanded you demonstrate many of these traits! The other thing is be organised - have many anecdotes to hand, use the STAR structure, use data where you can, and be prepared to dive into the detail of the examples! 

I have learnt that my favourite LP is 'learn and be curious'. I have learnt new things quite literally every day. People from diverse backgrounds, excelling in their fields, and are always happy to share knowledge, makes learning here at Amazon easy. 

There are more similarities than you might think. If I had to call out one difference, it would be that in the Army, you tend to work within a structured hierarchy, and there are clear boundaries to what you own. At Amazon things, tend to be much more ambiguous. You need to be comfortable with that ambiguity, you need to be able to operate across functional boundaries, and influence others to work on your behalf to deliver results. 

Head of Instock Management