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Company: Upwork, San Francisco, CA
Company Description: Upwork is the world’s work marketplace. We serve everyone from one-person startups to over 30% of the Fortune 100 with a powerful, trust-driven platform that enables companies and talent to work together in new ways that unlock their potential. Our talent community earned over $3.3 billion on Upwork in 2021 across more than 10,000 skills.
Nomination Category: Product Management Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Product Management/Development Executive of the Year
 Nomination Title: Sam Bright
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the achievements of the nominee since January 1 2020, OR written answers to the questions for this category? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this first question: Briefly describe the nominee: his or her history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 196 words used.
Sam Bright is Chief Product and Experience Officer at Upwork, the world’s work marketplace. Bright leads a globally distributed team across Product Management, Design, User Experience and User Research, Talent Success, Customer Experience, Community Management, New Businesses, Trust and Safety, and Business Development.
As a senior operating executive with over 16 years of experience scaling technology teams and transformational customer experiences, Bright has demonstrated a track record of growing multi-billion dollar P&Ls, executing complex domestic and global transactions, and leading large teams through inflection points. Prior to joining Upwork, Bright was the Vice President and General Manager of Verticals at eBay and had P&L responsibility for the company’s North America vertical business units.
Sam was recently recognized at the 2021 Culture Shifting Awards which recognizes unsung leaders in tech, innovation, and social impact. He has been named to Black Enterprise's 2018 List of the Most Influential Blacks in Technology, The Network Journal's 2018 40 Under Forty class, and Savoy Magazine's 2020 Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America. He is credentialed as an NACD Governance Fellow, and serves on the Board of Directors at Benetech as well as on the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum Advisory Council.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this second question: Outline the nominee's achievements since the beginning of 2020 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 231 words used.
Sam Bright’s visionary leadership set the pace for Upwork’s accelerated momentum in 2021 and propelled the company’s transformation from being a single-product line company to a multi-product line company in less than 12 months. By unifying the Product and Experience team and demonstrating customer prioritization above all else, Sam led his team and Upwork to deliver multiple new solutions and countless features in 2021, including:
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The global launch of Project Catalog, a curated collection of projects predefined by freelancers that clients can browse and buy from in just a few clicks. Project Catalog contains tens of thousands of projects across more than 300 categories. Our team drove the project, from approval to launch, in less than three months.
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The introduction of Talent Scout, a recruiting solution that connects companies with pre-vetted expert talent selected from the platform by specialized Upwork recruiters.
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Improvements to Enterprise Suite offerings like Bring Your Own Talent, Direct Contracts, and Payroll.
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The introduction of Virtual Talent Bench, a series of features that makes relationship building central to the customer experience on Upwork.
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More integrated ways for clients and independent talent to collaborate and communicate, like Loom asynchronous video, scheduling meetings, and messaging enhancements.
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Partnerships with benefits providers such as Catch to expand freelancers’ access to health insurance and financial services
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Experimentation with advertising and market design capabilities like Available Now Badges for more customer control and flexibility.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this third question: Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the nominee's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 233 words used.
As Sam built and scaled his team unifying customer experience and product, 40 percent of all Upwork product releases and tests were directly influenced by feedback from the voice of customers. He helped evolve Upwork with a customer-first mindset while helping the company hit significant milestones enhancing Upwork’s product capabilities and driving direct impacts to Gross Services Volume, growing 41% year-over-year, reaching $3.5 billion with revenue growth up 35% year-over-year reaching $503 million for the full-year of 2021. In the last quarter alone, Upwork surpassed $15 billion in lifetime talent earnings. This achievement highlights the magnitude he and his team has had, differentiating Upwork as a leader in the global movement to reimagine work.
Since his hire, Upwork was recognized by the Stevie Awards as the winner of “HR Tech Solution of the Year,” claimed silver in the Best In Biz Awards for both “Product Line of the Year - Enterprise and SMB” and “Enterprise Service of the Year,” and landed a ranking in G2 Crowd’s 2021 Best Software Awards.
The innovation and product velocity on each of Upwork’s solutions, delivery models, and the platform as a whole has never been more accelerated than where the company finds itself headed into 2022. This incredible progress is inevitably tied to Sam’s leadership and the retooled Product and Experience teams, truly changing the way businesses and independent professionals work together on Upwork.
- You have the option to answer this final question: Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 46 words used.
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