Meet our VP of Strategy and Growth Markets

Welcome to the second part of our series profiling people on the Joynd team (we are tentatively calling ourselves Joyndineers – what do you think?).. Damian joined us in the autumn of 2021; his brilliant mind and tenacious Kiwi spirit have been a welcome addition to the team.

Damian, what is your mission here at Joynd?

I’m here to drive a major transition towards more automation for Joynd, our partners and our customers. We have some very specific objectives (in terms of product, operations, marketing and sales) that will help everyone get access to integrations more quickly and cost effectively. The ultimate goal is to help spread the joy of working with fully connected recruiting and HR systems. 

There is a lot of potential complexity when integrating people systems, and for years our teams have done an amazing job of removing all that hassle for our customers. We have every intention of continuing to provide our full service integration services, but we have learned that particularly in the small and mid-market segments, there is a lot of repeatability.

What has prepared you for this mission?

When I was in my mid twenties I set off from New Zealand with a plan to spend a couple of years backpacking through Asia and Europe. I did plenty of that, and after 18 months or so I was in London with no money. I spoke with a recruiting agency about getting temporary work to fund my next trip, and they actually offered me a job working on a project team on their in-house recruiting solution, which I accepted, and so started my career in this industry. 

I’ve worked in and alongside HR technology companies for close to 20 years now, so I have a decent handle on the sorts of challenges that companies and their people face, and the ways that software vendors are working to address them. I’ve worked with some amazing teams along the way, in roles that have covered training, sales, marketing, product, strategy & leadership, and most recently a role focused on growing an HR technology integration platform, so have probably got as good a viewpoint as anyone on the HR & recruiting (integrations) landscape. In particular my time working with LinkedIn was transformational, teaching me about truly empathetic leadership and success culture. It’s shaped how I consider leadership and culture now, and I’m just delighted that I’m part of an organization that sees these things the same way I do. 

You’re in New Zealand. What does a day look like for you as the member of an otherwise-North American team?

Well it helps that I am an early riser! I’ve never been one for sleeping in, and with a family that is quite the opposite, I have a great opportunity to get up super early and start my working day with my North American colleagues in their mid-late morning. I usually get team and customer calls wrapped up in my morning, and have the afternoons for focused work time and follow ups. 

I have school-aged kids, and because of my early starts, I have the flexibility to integrate my work life and family life from mid-afternoon, so can stay really engaged in their daily lives and be there when they need me. I also keep pretty active with running and other sports, plus have a rural lifestyle block that we are developing so my days (and evenings!) are kept full!

Like all of the Joynd team I work fully remotely, so I rely heavily on good technology like Slack, Zoom, Office365 and the Google Business Suite. I have myself set up with great technology in my home office, including my Sony noise canceling in-ear headphones which I could now not live without (wf-1000xm4 for anyone interested)!

 What gets you excited about your work?

There is so much potential in the space that we are in, and the transformation that we are taking Joynd through is going to have a massive impact, on top of all of the incredible things we’ve achieved to get here. Our solutions improve accuracy, efficiency, quality and privacy of people-related data, and that is so valuable. Our customers connect people with jobs that they can love. Those jobs support families and communities. I am incredibly excited about the continued impact that we will have, and the joy that we will bring along the way.

Probably what excites me even more than the results that we will achieve though, is the way that we are going about it. It is possible to be both successful and authentic, and that probably sums up the team and culture here at Joynd more than anything else. Incredibly clever, hard working, driven people, all working towards our audacious goals, but being kind, supportive and generous while they do it. I just love being part of the team here, and I get excited when I wake up (early) every day to re-join the mission.