??Meet Conor

?? Tell us about your career at Mark’s.

I relocated to Canada from Scotland in 2017 and within a few months of arriving I was welcomed into the Mark’s family. I started my career here working in the Finance team (FP&A) out of the Calgary office. For anyone with a numerical mind, working in FP&A is a wonderful, challenging experience with opportunities to explore all parts of the financial make up of the business. During my time there I supported the Mark’s Commercial and Store Operations teams among others and developed a love for Excel that continues to this day (yes, I need help). As the journey with FP&A continued, I realized I wanted to be more heavily involved in the business decision-making and was particularly interested in long-term planning. Thankfully, an opportunity came up with the Mark’s Strategic Operations team and I’ve been in my role as Manager, Operational Excellence and Integration for the past 2.5-years now. This role and team are a truly unique and highly demanding function at Mark’s and my team specifically focus on our capital planning, real estate strategy and driving operational excellence through integrated process design and implementation. Beyond the work, I’ve acted as the Jumpstart Leader for our Calgary Corporate office for the past 5-years and love to lace up my boots and actively participate in Calgary Corporate Challenge (even if my body is maybe starting to feel the effects…).

?? How do you contribute to Making Life in Canada better?

For me, this is first and foremost about showing up for yourself. I’m a huge advocate for taking the time to understand who you are as an individual; what your values are and how you are going to bring them to life. This won’t happen overnight and for most (myself included) it is a constantly evolving journey but once you are on that path you’ll never look back. Because when we show up for ourselves and our communities, we are already making life in Canada better every day!

That said, at Mark’s we are making life in Canada better by keeping Canadians Warmer, Drier, Safer and More Comfortable. My team and I do this through capital investments like technologies that store teams use to better serve our customers, equipment that delivers the best-in-class innovation we have come to be known for (like IceFX!) and the right real estate in the locations that our customers expect us to be. I’m grateful that we, along with our amazing partners across the broader business, are able to create meaningful change together for our fellow Canadians.

Making life in Canada better is something that each of us can take accountability for, starting with showing up for ourselves. How will you show up today?

?? What is it about Mark’s that excites you to come to work each day?

Culture. I’ve been told to write an answer longer than one word but that really is the answer in a nutshell.

Everyone in the Mark’s family is open, enthusiastic, driven, authentic, and curious to find ways to keep growing our amazing business. These qualities give us a beautiful, vibrant, and dynamic culture and one that is not universal in businesses around the world. I feel truly fortunate each day that we get to share in this culture and keep developing it, together.

?? What have you learned throughout your time within Strategic Operations at Mark's?

I have learned that we all have massive blind spots. Spending many hours on big picture thinking and long-term planning I’ve seen how easy it is to assess a problem head on and fail to spot the bigger issue lurking just behind. A lot of the problem solving we do in Strategic Operations takes a long-term view and evaluates business problems and opportunities from multiple angles to ensure we are delivering the best possible outcomes. The beauty of this is that it cannot be done alone. We are reliant on the learnings and diverse perspectives of everyone in the business from our store teams to Supply Chain, the buyers, I.T. and the list goes on and on. Each group allows us the opportunity to deliver comprehensive strategies and solutions which will see our business continue to grow for a long time into the future. Through this collaborative process I’m very grateful for the opportunity to connect with so many great minds across CTC and learn from their experiences and insights.

Learn more about a career at Mark's by visiting our careers website today.

#MakingLifeinCanadaBetter #AllThingsSimple