Fueling the Growth of Enterprise Blockchain Products

2020 was a year of uncertainty around the world, but Paxos has continued to grow and we have added 63 new team members. James Hartley, Director of Product Operations at Paxos, is one of those new hires.

 

 


 

Why did you join Paxos?

I’ve always been interested in finance and investing, and more recently I became interested in blockchain. I left a career in tech after feeling burnt out, and spent a few months travelling and thinking about what I wanted next. I was looking for a few things, and Paxos ticked all the boxes:

  • A small, talented team, based in NY
  • A company using interesting, high-potential technologies 
  • A strong culture aligned to my values
  • An inspiring mission and CEO
  • A company that was rapidly shipping exciting products

What did you do before Paxos?

With a computer science background, I started as a software engineer in Sydney building stock market surveillance software. But I wanted more exposure to the business and customers, which led me to technical services roles at Google working on advertiser platforms. I relocated with Google to New York to work alongside the product managers and engineers. Later I joined an 8 person startup in adtech (Arbor), where I did a bit of everything (product, account management, integrations, technical support, solutions consulting, etc). Right before Paxos I spent 3 years at LiveRamp (they acquired Arbor) leading technical services teams (solutions consulting, product operations, L1 support, and technical account management) as the company grew from 200 people to more than 1000.

What are your responsibilities at Paxos?

I lead the product operations team to support many types of customers and many products. Our role is to bridge the gap between what the product can do and what customers need, making sure our customers’ funds (dollars, crypto, securities, etc) transact quickly, accurately, and safely, and keep the heart of the business beating.

What do you like about working at Paxos?

The people are my #1 – smart, humble, friendly, and engaged. It’s also great to be part of a company that’s launching really exciting products, and full of challenging problems to solve. As a lifetime learner, I’d say the motivation to learn deeply about blockchain technology has been a great opportunity too.

It’s been weird onboarding during a pandemic, so I really enjoy the happy hours – a virtual wine tasting, codenames online, etc – chances to get to know my colleagues as people and hear all the stories from before I joined!

What goals do you have for yourself here?

I want to deeply understand the main blockchains (Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc), grow the people/products/process on the operations team and contribute to making the global economy more accessible. I’ve travelled a lot and it’s always struck me how unfair it is that huge populations don’t have access to stable currencies, economic opportunities, and chances to build financial independence – hopefully Paxos can help change that!


 

Paxos is a mission-driven company with a team of dedicated and passionate people who want to make a difference. We are expanding rapidly and looking to hire in all functions. Check out our blog to learn more about us and our openings to see if there’s a role for you.

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