Amazon’s Real (Cool) Jobs: Chris Holloway, leader of Amazon Pets

This article is part of our Real (Cool) Jobs series, where we highlight employees with some of the most interesting jobs across Amazon. Looking for previous posts? Check out Kane Diep, Prime Video's TikTok strategist and all of our Real (Cool) Jobs on AboutAmazon.com.

Meet Chris Holloway, who leads the Amazon Pets team and is working to make the lives of pet parents easier every day.

Outside of belly scratches and playing fetch, which admittedly comes with the territory, it is clear the Amazon Pets team takes its role within the pet industry very seriously.

“Amazon is uniquely positioned to help solve problems pet parents might face,” said Holloway. “We have engaged a panel of veterinarians to continue to improve the health and happiness of pets everywhere, and we are certain this is just the beginning of making the lives of pet parents easier.”

We chatted with Holloway and his nine-year-old Labrador retriever, Sadie (who easily stole the show) to learn more about how they are shaping the future of Amazon Pets.

What does Sadie's day look like when she is in the office?

Our team gets a lot of samples because we work with brands and suppliers, so she's learned over time that if she goes desk to desk, everyone has treats. She hasn't skipped a beat being back in the office. She is going desk to desk knowing that treats will come.      

Now that we know about Sadie's role at Amazon, how would you describe your role?

My role is to take care of pet parents in the U.S. Whatever pet parents need, my team works hard to get it for them. One of our biggest focuses is getting items to pet parents quickly and saving them trouble from having to run to the store last minute. If we can deliver pet food to homes fast (e.g., same day or next day), we're doing a better job for pet parents.

Pets are very, very important in our lives. How is Amazon working to make sure customers feel that they can trust the company when shopping for their pets?

We have created our own specialty customer service department made up of pet lovers. These customer service agents are trained to be more knowledgeable about pet products. Naturally, they are empathetic when something goes wrong, which is very important when it comes to pets. Customer service agents go through special training with our partners and brands so they can be more knowledgeable with the products sold on Amazon.com. We piloted the program in 2020 and rolled it out to all customers last year.

How is Amazon making the hard part of having a pet easier for pet parents?

It's very important for us to have a strong relationship with the veterinarian community. We want to be learning about the most important and emerging issues or concerns as they relate to pets. We have an advisory panel made up of veterinarians who we meet with quarterly. We really thought it was important to have experts to connect with when we need objective advice and a counsel.

We leverage the panel to think big and to learn about how we can improve the health, safety, and welfare of pets and in particular, what can Amazon do, not just from a retail or consumer standpoint, but across the company.

What is one of your favorite parts of your job?

It's fun to be around pets and thinking about how to better serve pet parents. When our team goes to trade shows, there are puppies and kitties everywhere—it is so much fun to be in that environment. We have more than 8,000 dogs at Amazon, and I am guessing the per capita is higher on the Pets team. When we are all in the office, we do a treats bracket to see what the most popular treat is among Amazon pets, chosen by the most important team: the dogs of Amazon.

Read more of our interview with Chris and Sadie at AboutAmazon.com.