Clay
Fertig

Summary

I'm an MBA-trained operations leader with a track record of managing large teams and driving measurable results in high-volume environments. At Amazon, I lead daily operations for 300–700 employees, improved productivity by 5% through data-driven coaching, and helped deliver the highest departmental rates during Peak 2025. Before Amazon, I spent seven years in Army HR and operations leadership, managing workforce planning for 2,000+ roles and turning around underperforming teams. I thrive in fast-paced settings where accountability, problem-solving, and people development matter most.

Impact

Experience

1. 2025-Present

   Operations Manager II

   Amazon · West Columbia, SC

   • Lead daily operations for a high-volume fulfillment department processing approximately 150,000 units per shift, supporting 300 to 400 associates and frontline leaders while scaling to 700 employees during peak periods and balancing productivity, safety, quality, staffing, engagement, and customer commitments.
   • Improved departmental productivity from 57.3 to 60.23 units per hour by using KPI visibility, targeted coaching, real-time labor allocation, and structured operating routines to strengthen execution across shift-based teams.
   • Serve as a real-time operational problem solver for daily barriers, staffing gaps, workflow constraints, associate concerns, and performance issues, quickly identifying root causes, reallocating resources, communicating priorities, and driving follow-through with frontline leaders and peer managers.
   • Built standardized leadership tools, reporting mechanisms, and operating routines that improved visibility into performance, barriers, staffing needs, weekly priorities, and manager accountability across a fast-paced, people-intensive operation.

2. 2025-2025

   Program Manager (Leadership Ashtabula County)

   United States Army (DoD SkillBridge) · Ashtabula, OH

   Show the military equivalent

   • Partnered directly with the Executive Director to manage daily operations for a community leadership organization, supporting program execution, stakeholder communication, event logistics, business planning, and engagement across public, private, and nonprofit partners.
   • Built and maintained relationships across 9+ schools, government agencies, businesses, civic organizations, and community partners, serving as an external-facing point of contact and strengthening cross-sector collaboration, community trust, and program impact.
   • Coordinated 3 concurrent leadership development programs serving 140+ adult and high school participants, aligning curriculum, schedules, communications, speakers, site visits, logistics, and participant support to deliver consistent, high-quality program experiences.
   • Gained practical experience in organizational overview, fundraising for non-profits, and donor relations to support the organization's financial stability.

3. 2018-2025

   Senior Human Resources and Operations Leader

   United States Army · Various Locations

   • Led workforce planning and personnel operations for 2,000+ roles, analyzing staffing gaps, prioritizing critical vacancies, advising senior leaders on talent distribution, and aligning people resources to operational requirements, mission priorities, and readiness goals.
   • Managed full-scope people operations for a 650-person organization, overseeing records, evaluations, promotions, transfers, separations, awards, headcount reporting, compliance, and documentation while serving as the primary advisor to senior leaders on workforce risk and personnel decisions.
   • Turned around an underperforming HR operation by auditing backlogged actions, rebuilding accountability standards, writing SOPs, and retraining staff, restoring compliance to the 98% standard and reducing processing times by approximately half while improving service quality for leaders and employees.
   • Built tracking systems, reporting tools, and standardized SOPs adopted by 7 subordinate teams, improving data accuracy, documentation quality, reporting speed, audit readiness, and consistency of execution across a complex organization with multiple leaders and workstreams.

Skills

Education and certifications

Service record

Branch

U.S. Army

Rank

E-6

Years served

2018 – 2025

Specialty / MOS

42A

Security clearance

Secret