Employee Spotlight: Innovating the future with Austin, Chief Product Officer

We pride ourselves on not only delivering outstanding services to our clients, but also creating a culture of innovation and excellence within our team. Today, we shine the spotlight on Austin, our Chief Product Officer, whose journey and accomplishments highlight exactly why we do what we do - and why we invest in the individuals that we hire.

Background and role

Austin's career is a blend of creativity and technical prowess. With a passion for art and design, coupled with an interest in computers, Austin naturally gravitated towards a career that allowed him to merge these interests. His journey began in graphic design, progressing to web design and development, where he honed his skills in creating and managing eCommerce solutions. His self-taught transition from designer to developer-led him to join fulfilmentcrowd, where he eventually took on a leadership role in eCommerce. 

Today, as Chief Product Officer, Austin is at the helm of product strategy and development, driving the company's vision and fostering a robust product culture. We don’t want to say too much more in case he gets a big head, but we’re pretty stoked to have him on the team.

Achievements and projects

One of Austin's most significant achievements at fulfilmentcrowd is the redevelopment of the fulfilmentcrowd platform. Before this redevelopment, one of the primary challenges was the lengthy process of designing, developing, and releasing new features to customers. This project stands out for the vast scale of its achievements in such a short time, made possible by the introduction of 'Product Teams'. Austin introduced cross-functional resources all committed to making the new platform a success for this project and this has consequently paved the way for how fulfilmentcrowd operates product development today.

However, the revamped platform has led to a significant increase in productivity and a massive reduction in the time required to deliver value to customers. Austin attributes this success to the collaboration and dedication of his team, highlighting the importance of teamwork and the invaluable contributions everyone makes to enhance customer satisfaction.

Company culture and experience

Austin values the supportive and respectful culture we’ve managed to implement at fulfilmentcrowd. He appreciates the balance between autonomy and guidance, allowing team members to explore and innovate, whilst providing the necessary support when needed. This environment has been crucial for his professional growth, enabling him to take on diverse roles and responsibilities over his 11-year stint with the company (and we hope for many more years too!).

Beyond the officer

Outside of work, Austin is a family man with three children and a supportive wife. He enjoys spending time in the garden with his 3 children and has a keen interest in golf, even though he admits his handicap is a work in progress (luckily, he’s a much better Chief Product Officer than a golfer). Interestingly, Austin has a 25-year-old Pokemon card collection - with a few rare cards thrown in for good measure. We’re just hoping this isn’t his retirement plan…

A fun and lesser-known fact about Austin is his dedication to prototyping in his spare time. Despite his managerial responsibilities, he continues to stay hands-on, developing new ideas and solutions that keep him connected to his creative roots.

Stay tuned for more employee spotlights and insights into the people who make fulfilmentcrowd what we are!