Q&A with Shashank Kidiyur Sathish, Head of Data & Analytics, Amazon Fashion EU in London

Discover how a Program Manager's role at Amazon transformed into a journey of continuous learning and skill development and grow in a Head of Data & Analytics role in London. This article highlights the unexpected opportunities for growth within Amazon's vast technological landscape, showcasing how hands-on experience with data and SQL can shape a professional's career trajectory in unexpected and rewarding ways.

Read the full story and get inspired for your own career journey!

Hello Shashank Kidiyur Sathish ,

Can you tell us about your career journey at Amazon?

My career journey at Amazon has truly been diverse and rewarding. I started as a Program Manager in 2017, driving delivery quality improvement programs for our EU transportation operations. This role exposed me to the vast data and technological capabilities within Amazon, and it was during this time that I significantly expanded my SQL skills - a capability that was quite limited in my prior experience.

Leveraging these new technical abilities, I was able to make a meaningful impact in my role and was promoted in 2019. Seeking further growth, I then transitioned to a Senior Business Intelligence Engineer role at Amazon Fashion in 2020, an organization I am still a part of today. Within this team, I have grown from an individual contributor supporting the team's ramp up during COVID to managing a team of Business Intelligence Engineers, Data Engineers and Business Analysts. Most recently, in 2024, I was promoted again to lead the entire data and analytics team.

This squiggly career path has been instrumental in shaping my professional development. I've gained exposure to cutting-edge technologies, learned to thrive in ambiguous environments, and developed strong leadership skills - all of which have empowered me to drive innovation and deliver value to our customers.

What draws you to working in tech, and why did you choose to pursue a lateral move to a tech career at Amazon?

I have always gravitated towards tech on account of its pace of innovation and evolution. There is always something new that I can learn and apply every day. My first role at Amazon was non-technical but I was exposed to tech at scale from Day 1 - be it the various tools and systems that help delight our customers or the various solutions that were built for our internal teams to analyze and improve our performance. This was my primary motivation to pursue a tech career at Amazon.

Describe your current role and how your team's work directly benefits our customers?

I currently lead the data and analytics team that owns high impact initiatives aimed at delighting Amazon Fashion customers in Europe. We partner with business stakeholders, software development teams, and economists to solve challenging problems through mechanisms, data products and experimentation. We also drive data literacy and upskilling for our internal teams through trainings and knowledge share sessions.

What aspects of your team's mission excite you the most?

What excites me the most is that my team is at the junction of business, data and tech – and we are given the opportunity to tackle really complex problems every day in collaboration with our partners.

What are one or two of your proudest moments at Amazon, and how did they demonstrate your commitment to Amazon's Leadership Principles?

It is very difficult to pick one proud moment so I will pick two – (i) When one of my team’s data products that provided customized and action-oriented insights to our selling partners was scaled to other categories in EU Stores (Think Big, Deliver Results) and (ii) When two of my direct reports successfully got promoted to Senior Business Intelligence Engineer role within the same year (Hire and Develop the Best).

What do you find most unique and rewarding about Amazon's culture and work environment?

Amazon’s culture and work environment has always been geared to thriving in ambiguity and thinking long term on behalf of our customers. To that effect, I derive a lot of joy in translating ambiguous and complex problem statements into simple call-to-actions for my team and for my stakeholders. We are then able to quickly deliver prototypes that show the value proposition while building a plan to scale them for the wider organization.

How has working at Amazon enabled you to grow as a professional?

My experience at Amazon has reinforced the idea that Adaptability truly breeds Resilience. By embracing change and continuously learning, I’ve been empowered to navigate challenges and grow as an individual contributor and leader in ways I never imagined. I've transitioned from creating weekly performance reports using SQL and Excel to building web applications leveraging AWS services that enable users to take self-service actions. These new technical capabilities, combined with a deeper understanding of driving innovation at scale, have been instrumental in empowering me to enable better business decisions, enhance operational efficiency, and deliver greater value to our customers.

Which of Amazon's Leadership Principles resonate the most with you, and how do you apply them in your day-to-day work?

The two Amazon Leadership Principles that resonate the most with me are Customer Obsession and Learn and Be Curious. I strive to embody these principles in my daily work.

Customer Obsession is a core tenet that I keep at the forefront of every decision and initiative. By maintaining a clear focus on delivering solutions that directly address our customers' needs and pain points, I'm able to ensure that my team's efforts are always aligned with driving meaningful impact. This customer-centric mindset serves as a robust forcing function, helping us prioritize our work and stay laser-focused on the most impactful projects.

On Learn and Be Curious - I have a passion for continuous learning, whether it is expanding technical skills or gaining business insights. I constantly seek opportunities to upskill, explore emerging tech, and identify novel problem-solving approaches. This curiosity enables me to bring fresh perspectives, adapt quickly, and identify innovative ways to better serve customers. I also foster this mindset in my team, empowering them to continuously learn and grow.

What is your favorite Amazon product or service?

My favorite Amazon product or service is AWS (Amazon Web Services). I'm particularly fascinated by the breadth and depth of the AWS portfolio, which my team leverages extensively to drive innovation and deliver value to our customers.

We utilize S3 for scalable data storage, Glue for data integration and ETL, Redshift for data warehousing, SageMaker for machine learning, and QuickSight for business intelligence and analytics. The seamless integration and scalability of these services have enabled us to build robust, efficient, and customer-centric solutions.

I also enjoy keeping up-to-date with the rapid pace of innovation within the AWS ecosystem. Lately I have been following the development of emerging technologies like AutoGluon for low-code machine learning and Amazon Bedrock for Generative AI.

What are some of your hobbies or passions outside of work?

Outside of work, I enjoy spending time watching sports, listening to podcasts, reading manga (avid One-Piece fan here) and catching up with friends and family. When I want a creative boost, I play the violin or the ukulele. And when I crave solitude, I dust off my open water scuba diving certification and travel to places with beautiful beaches and serene diving spots.

What are your top tips for someone applying and interviewing for a Business Intelligence or Data Engineering role in Amazon's EMEA tech hubs?

I have 2 key tips for anyone who wants to apply to a Business Intelligence Engineer/ Data Engineer role in Amazon EMEA – (i) Sharpen your functional skills (SQL, Metrics and Reporting, Data Modelling) as we will assess you on them comprehensively during the interview process and (ii) Connect your technical achievement to a tangible business outcome and quantify your impact as much as possible (eg: Enabled business decisions worth $X MM in revenue and impacting Y users)

If you're interested in pursuing a career as a Sr. Business Intelligence Engineer (BIE) at Amazon, you can view our open EMEA BIE positions at this link.

To prepare for your incoming BIE interview, please review the resources listed in this page!