Amazon’s career chameleon: How Jeremy carved a unique path from accounting to program management
Meet Jeremy Woensdregt, a Senior Program Manager based in Canada, who has had three mini-careers at Amazon in eight years. From accounting to program and product management, Jeremy has always been encouraged to follow his interests. Here he shares insights into his role, his career progression, and the unexpected places where inspiration strikes.
Hi, Jeremy. Can you tell us a bit more about your role?
Program Managers answer the "how" and "when" questions for complex cross-functional programs and projects. We're like the navigators, managing the road maps to get things done. It's all about working backward from the customer, clearing the obstacles in our paths and delivering on our goals.
Your career journey at Amazon has been quite dynamic. Can you walk us through it?
My adventure began in 2016 when I joined the Amazon Devices Accounting team. I was responsible for managing device supply-chain accounting processes and orchestrating the launch of new devices. It was this role that ignited my spark of interest for program and product management.
After delivering a successful project that streamlined revenue accounting, I ventured into the Finance and Business Integrations team, where I led accounting automation and product development for Amazon Ads worldwide.
Fast-forward to 2021, when I seized the chance to join the (then named) Campaign and Creative Services team as a Senior Program Manager. There I oversaw the rollout of a customer-facing billing service and got hands-on product management experience, defining the vision and delivering a new internal tool for our Sales and Finance teams.
In 2023, I led a program to deliver a new interface for our Sales team. This enabled first-party deal-based selling and adopted industry standards for programmatic advertising. The program involved closely collaborating across several Amazon Ads teams and across Ads technology and sales, as well as managing the program end-to-end for my team. I had the opportunity to step into product management tasks to aid the team in delivery, which was a great learning experience. I’m always excited about what’s next.
What do you enjoy most about working at Amazon?
Amazon Ads has endless opportunities for cross-functional collaboration and innovation, and no idea is too big or small. You’re encouraged to invent and experiment. It’s the “fail fast to test and verify” culture that keeps me excited. Plus, I collaborate with teams worldwide, building products and solutions with colleagues in Vancouver, Seattle, New York, London, and Bangalore.
How do you keep new ideas flowing?
Ideas can strike anywhere—even when brainstorming on top of a mountain during a work trip in India!
Jeremy, taking a break on a work trip in India
One of my proudest moments was when an idea for a new code base struck me during a routine project walk-through. Within months, the team had implemented the solution—a streamlined internal code base. Developers could now enable functionality within 10 minutes, a massive improvement from the two-plus weeks it used to take. It was a small idea with a big impact.
How has life changed since you joined Amazon?
When I started at Amazon, I moved from Vancouver to Seattle, maintaining a long-distance relationship with my then-girlfriend, who is now my wife. It was a challenging time. My mother-in-law was fighting cancer, and sadly, she passed away shortly after our wedding in 2018.
Since then, we've moved back to Vancouver and welcomed two children, Thomas and Dani, and a German Short-Haired Pointer, Bella, to our family. Amazon has supported me through all these life-changing milestones.
Now, nothing gives me greater pleasure than watching my son and daughter grow up with Bella.
Jeremy, with his family
What's next on the horizon for you?
I'm focused on continuing my career development at Amazon Ads. My sights are set on becoming a Senior Product Manager and building global products and solutions that continue to wow our customers.
Finally, do you have any words of wisdom for someone thinking of applying?
Over my eight-year stint, I've already had three mini-careers, and I’m knocking on the door of my fourth. If you’re ready to learn and develop yourself, your career is your own at Amazon, where no two paths are alike. I don’t know if there’s anywhere else quite like it.