Sarah Castle Email & Phone Number

Consulting services aimed at transforming organizations to become high(er) performing. Coaching for executives, senior leaders, and up-and-comers, especially those making career pivots. Speaking to inspire on topics such as leadership, innovation, and finding purpose. https://www.castlecoaching.com/

Charleston, South Carolina, Us

Seattle, Wa, Us

Led internal startup that created technical career paths for people from historically excluded populations.

Seattle, Wa, Us

Led five organizations in Amazon Books (500+ people, $13M+ operating expenses).• Books Content Risk - responsible for all business functions including policy, BI, product management and operations. My org sets policy for books content guidelines, is responsible for the roadmap of detection technologies, and owns automated and manual review of content. • Print Book Quality Assurance - responsible for print quality of all print-on-demand content. My org drives product, policy, process improvements and reviews all POD titles to ensure it meets manufacturing specifications.• Kindle Content Quality - responsible for enabling content creators to publish books that offer a great user experience from the first read and partnering with them to continuously improve that experience. My org owns product management for quality mechanisms and automated and manual review of content issues.• Executive Customer Relations - responsible for high risk customer contacts. My org owns triaging and responding to escalated customer contacts for books, managing emerging customer-facing technical issues, and investigating and preventing critical escalations.• Kindle Fraud & Abuse - responsible for identifying, detecting, and acting on fraud and abuse signals for digital and print-on-demand books. My org owns product management for detection technologies, analytics, and automated and manual review of abusive behavior.

Seattle, Wa, Us

Owned several disciplines for Alexa Voice Service including business intelligence & analytics, business operations, international expansion and partner launch process. Key responsibilities include:• Chief of Staff for leader of Alexa Voice Service business, implemented business process to help organization scale such as product roadmap reviews, weekly/quarterly business reviews, and market segment prioritization.• Led business planning for organization, including working cross-functionally to define 18-month business strategy and resource plan. Presented plan to senior Alexa executives for alignment and approval.• Led team of program and product managers, business analysts and BI engineers that delivered business critical initiatives such as new country launches, cross-organizational partner launch process, business metrics and insights.• Built new Risk Management function from the ground up.

Seattle, Wa, Us

Owned two distinct functions for the Alexa organization. First, I led all of the post-investment activities with Alexa Fund portfolio companies. Alexa Fund is a $200M equity investment fund focusing on driving innovation in voice. Second, I built and led the Partner Management function for Alexa Voice Service which is responsible for leading the integration of Alexa into 3P products with top tier partners. Key accomplishments include:• Identified unmet need to lead post-investment activities for the Alexa Fund, created role, and gained executive sponsorship to build function. Built portfolio management function including strategy & goals focused on making post-investment activities a key differentiator for Alexa Fund. Secured headcount for on-going support and development of this function.• Developed business case and gained executive support to build a partner management function for Alexa Voice Service, which is responsible for white-glove program management for most important 3P partners that are integrating Alexa into their products.• Developed strategy, business plan and operating tenets for partner management, grew global team from 0 to 15, developed processes and standards for integrating Alexa into products from top tier partners such Sonos, Bose, Logitech, HP, Lenovo, and more.• Expanded team responsibilities to own launch process for all AVS partners and new country launches.

Seattle, Wa, Us

Owned two key areas for Amazon Echo and the Amazon Speech Platform. First, I led the speech data collection team, an operations team responsible for collecting thousands of hours of speech data required to launch the Amazon Echo and other pre-market, speech-forward devices. Second, I led a team of program managers responsible for integrating new and existing Amazon products onto the Amazon Speech Platform. Key accomplishments include: • Built and grew speech data collection program for Amazon Echo. Drove execution and process improvements to scale the program across the US and Europe. Data collected was essential for Amazon Echo launch in November 2015 and several other speech product launches.• Took on additional leadership of all integrations of internal Amazon products onto the Amazon Speech Platform including Amazon’s mobile shopping app, Amazon Fresh’s Dash device, Fire TV, pre-market speech-forward devices, and international expansion planning.• Hired, trained, developed and led a team of 10 FTEs and 25+ contractors for speech data collection and other projects. • Managed a multi-million dollar budget for speech data collection.

Seattle, Wa, Us

Led due diligence and integration for three speech technology acquisitions and one social network for readers. In this role, I was responsible for leading a large cross-functional team through due diligence, deal closing, and integration. I partnered with sponsoring business leaders and the cross-functional team to define the integration strategy, key milestones, and execution plan. After each acquisition, I became an imbedded member of the newly acquired company to lead them through change and ensure a smooth and successful integration. Key accomplishments include:• Owned due diligence process and integration for acquisition of Goodreads, Evi Technologies, IVONA, and one undisclosed company, including managing the wind down and closure of one business. • Partnered with business leaders defining and executing the integration strategy and responsible for on-boarding acquisitions to Amazon business practices, processes, and culture as it made sense.• Drove significant process improvements such as business leaders' guides of integration processes and best practices for successful integration, corporate network integration framework, compensation and benefits integration playbook, and an acquisition equity framework.

Seattle, Wa, Us

Responsible for all US acquisitions end-to-end, partnering closely with the sponsoring business leaders, corporate development, HR functional leads, and the M&A cross-functional team. In addition, I supported all EU acquisitions and owned global process improvements. Key accomplishments include:• Led due diligence for Quidsi, Kiva, Pushbutton and two undisclosed acquisitions. Led HR integration strategy planning and execution for Quidsi and one undisclosed acquisition. Partnered closely with EU HR on EU acquisitions including LOVEFiLM, Pushbutton, The Book Depository, and one undisclosed. Responsible for facilitating global processes and supporting due diligence and integration planning.• Spearheaded and built HR M&A tool kit focused on improving integration processes and practices. The tool kit included: process guidelines for HR M&A globally, diligence and integration project plan, 401(k) decision matrix, cultural integration tool kit, and post mortem best practices. • Established and drove quarterly reviews with HR executives, completed compensation cliff analysis of key employees and designed and delivered training for HR business partners working with acquired companies. • Owned additional high visibility project outside of M&A role. Planned and launched global company-wide project to assess Amazon job candidate's writing skills. Partnered with global HR and business teams to Integrate into the recruiting/hiring process and drive adoption.

Charleston, South Carolina, Us

Sunnyvale, Ca, Us

HR business partner for three standalone companies, supporting five business leaders in three locations. The businesses included device hardware, game development, and a software engineering development center. Key accomplishments include: • HR business partner for Kindle software and product management (Amazon startup), Reflexive Entertainment (acquisition), and A2Z Orange County (startup). Supported the start-up of the A2Z Orange County organization.• Owned and led performance review process for each company, including process timelines, training, compensation and on-going employee and manager support.• Partnered with senior leaders and management team on organizational design, performance management, and employee relations issues.• Project managed launch of Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) for each company.

North Charleston, Sc, Us

HR leader for two recently-acquired companies. Main responsibility was to merge CreateSpace with another acquired company and integrate it more with Amazon. Played a key role on the leadership team to define the strategy and integration approach. Key accomplishments include:• Overall HR responsibility for a standalone P&L.• Partnered with business leadership to execute reorganization and merger with another company. Partnered with leaders to design a scalable org structure that aligned with long-term growth strategy.• Managed all HR-related issues for ~100 employees in three locations including staffing, headcount management, investigations, coaching, training, benefits and employee relations. Managed team of two.• Built HR infrastructure by establishing standard policies and practices.• Acted as interim HR Manager for additional subsidiary in Charleston, SC for more than 6 months. Supported senior leaders, drove HR strategy, and served as escalation for all ER issues for and additional ~250 employees. Interim manager for team of three HR professionals.

Boston, Ma, Us

Recruited to join GE’s prestigious HR leadership program. The program includes three rotations including one cross-functional business assignment. Key accomplishments include:Rotation #3: Compensation, Organization & Staffing, GE Plastics – Pittsfield, MA – 11/06 to 8/07• Led global HR due diligence process for the divestiture of GE Plastics.• Managed Affirmative Action Planning process for ~5000 US employees. Coordinated training, analysis and implementation of affirmative action plans for 14 sites.• Managed global salary planning process for ~10,000 employees, including HRM training, global roll-out and e-tool management.• Coordinated reduction-in-force for more than 300 US employees. Duties included headcount management, outplacement services and contract labor analysis.Rotation #2: Global Marketing Operations, GE Plastics – Pittsfield, MA – 3/06 to 11/06• Led Lean Six Sigma project for Net Promoter Score (NPS). Reduced process cycle time from 30 to 4 days. Earned Green Belt certification.• Developed comprehensive ethnographic research guide used for training field marketing teams.• Conducted ethnographic research with consumers in recreational vehicle and sleep apnea markets.Rotation #1: Human Resources Manager, GE Plastics – Mt. Vernon, IN – 7/05 to 3/06• Human Resources manager for ~200 employees including non-exempts, exempts, technology, and operations leadership program. Duties included non-exempt and exempt staffing, discipline and headcount management, investigations, coaching, performance management, and improving employee satisfaction.• Developed and institutionalized the manufacturing rotation for Commercial Leadership Program. Designed rotation structure, assignment content and formal performance assessment.• Created and implemented mentor program for key diverse talent. Developed training package and feedback surveys for all participants.

Milr, Human Resources And Organizations

Ba, Public Relations, Womens' Studies