Mark Griffith, who joined Amazon as employee number 1,037 and became the third person hired for what evolved into Fulfillment by Amazon, is stepping down after more than 20 years with the tech company headquartered in the Seattle region.
Throughout his tenure at Amazon, Griffith dedicated the majority of his time to FBA, the service that manages logistics including shipping, customer support, and product returns for external merchants. His career progression included serving as director of software engineering for FBA and subsequently for Amazon’s payment systems. Most recently, he held the position of director overseeing seller fulfillment services.
In a comprehensive piece published on Substack, Griffith detailed his professional path, lessons gained during his time with the
organization, and offered both personal wisdom and career guidance. He emphasized his commitment to maintaining work-life balance, stating that while he dedicated more than eight hours daily to Amazon with full effort, he never allowed work to consume everything, recognizing the danger in doing so. Griffith noted he doesn’t live for his job but rather works to support his life, approaching his responsibilities with diligence, empathy, and intelligence while helping colleagues. He expressed readiness to pass the torch to others.
DigitalOcean has appointed Vinay Kumar to the position of chief product and technology officer at the infrastructure-as-a-service provider. The Seattle-based Kumar previously spent over 11 years at Oracle, where he most recently served as senior vice president overseeing cloud engineering. DigitalOcean CEO Paddy Srinivasan praised Kumar’s extensive experience developing cloud and AI platforms at enterprise scale, his strong product strategy capabilities, and his grasp of the operational discipline necessary for critical workloads.
Lindsay Bayne has transitioned to the role of senior director of advocacy at UiPath, the New York-headquartered company specializing in helping organizations automate repetitive and complex processes. Bayne’s previous experience includes more than ten years at Microsoft, where she departed from her position as director of the Growth Innovation and Strategy Team. She expressed enthusiasm on LinkedIn about joining UiPath’s talented team, supporting their customers, and demonstrating the tangible impact of automation and AI technologies.
Christin Camacho has become head of go-to-market for BuildQ, an AI-powered platform focused on clean energy project development and due diligence. Camacho arrives at the company after spending nearly seven years with LevelTen Energy, a Seattle-based clean energy marketplace, where she held the position of vice president of marketing. Her earlier career included time at Redfin. BuildQ’s artificial intelligence technology accelerates development phases for large-scale wind, solar, and storage projects, ultimately enabling faster deployment of clean energy infrastructure—a mission Camacho has pursued throughout her career. In her new capacity, she’ll collaborate with Maryssa Barron, BuildQ’s founder and CEO, who is also a former colleague from LevelTen.
Lowell Bander, the founding general manager of Seattle’s 9Zero climate tech entrepreneurial hub, is transitioning to the role of ecosystem advisor as the organization searches for new leadership. Bander additionally serves as an advisor on Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson’s transportation and environment transition team.
Nate Frazier has accepted the position of community liaison for the Oregon AI Accelerator based in Portland. The organization works to coordinate the state’s entrepreneurial communities, investment networks, and academic institutions to promote AI innovation.
The Seattle Hub for Synthetic Biology has announced the inaugural cohort for its SeaBridge Fellowship, a research training initiative that received a $10 million Washington Research Foundation grant in March. The selected scientists will receive two years of financial backing plus support for professional development, mentorship training, and networking opportunities. The cohort includes eight postdoctoral researchers from the University of Washington and Fred Hutch Cancer Center, working on projects ranging from ALS treatment research and breast cancer tumor development to engineered protein therapeutics, synthetic cellular circuits, cancer-fighting T cell engineering, congenital spine disorders, and cellular recording technologies for stem cell differentiation.