From The Navy To Assistant General Manager Of Pathways Amazon: The Incredible Industry Switch By Rajesh Nair

Written by: James Carnell

Rajesh Chennattu Sasidharan Nair wasn’t always the assistant general manager of Pathways at Amazon. He started his illustrious career as a commissioned officer in the Navy. During his tenure, he showed an interest in business and he acquired an MBA to find his place in the corporate world. His time in the navy has helped him build an array of hard and soft skills which gave him a competitive advantage to navigate through an industry switch that most people wouldn’t even dream of.

“With an MBA coupled with operational experience both in the Navy and the corporate sector, I believe that I am uniquely equipped to manage uncertain/ambiguous situations and navigate through uncharted paths. My key strengths are thinking and planning long term, people development, creating innovative solutions and ideas to solve different complex issues, and the ability to deliver results,” says Nair about how his experiences in the Navy helped him navigate the world of e-commerce.

According to Rajesh, Amazon was his first choice when he decided to dip into the corporate world. He started in operations management with great success, as it allowed him to demonstrate his skills in managing people and building relationships, as well as problem-solving and solution implementation, all of which were his specialties in the Navy in his various leadership roles as Commanding Officer, Officer-in-Charge, Weapons Officer, Navigation and Direction Officer and Training Officer.

He goes on to say, “I love to engage with people, understand different concerns and barriers they face, and come up with simple solutions to make everyone’s life easy. Operations management has direct customer impacts which is another driver for choosing a career path. “

Graduating from the University of Southern California - Marshall School of Business has given him a better understanding and greater insights into the global business management market. His ability to work effectively with people from diverse backgrounds makes him an essential part of the company, but he says that his biggest blessing is being able to get involved with different business lines and develop his skills and experience.

Being an assistant general manager means that Nair also plays an essential part in the development, testing, and implementation of new technologies, one of which was the Automatic Receive Offline Systems to Inbound CrossDock sites, which increases offline capacity by 25%, which is a staggering 500M units annually. The technology has also reduced the overhead costs by $10M.

Another notable project was retiring the PIT, or Powered Industrial Trucks, which eventually increased operational efficiency. Nair was instrumental in redesigning the layout and realizing these gains in terms of efficiency.

Rajesh was selected among his peers to launch a new $500MM fulfillment in southern California as Senior Operations Manager. He is focused on long-term capacity planning, ramping up to process 17 million units per week, and managing a total headcount of 3300+ managers and associates. Rajesh Nair’s unique skillset and background made him the obvious choice when the team needed a leader to oversee these key operations to meet customer demands and assist with internal and external stakeholders to optimize efficiency.

His remarkable accomplishments have led him to be recognized by various institutes and he is a Fellow at RSA The Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, as well as being a Senior Member of IEEE and a life fellow at the Institute of Directors. Throughout his prolific career in the Navy and at Amazon, Rajesh Nair has demonstrated his immense leadership and one-of-a-kind skillset as an operations manager.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes