EMEA - Hamilton Noel, Data Scientist: People of Pattern

Pattern has seen great success over the years, with a huge thanks to the people behind it all. Our #PeopleofPattern series shines a spotlight on our team members all around the world, putting faces to names and chatting about what it’s like to work at Pattern. This week we chatted with Hamilton Noel, Data Scientist, in Pattern’s Utah HQ.

Could you tell me a bit about your experience working at Pattern?

I work on the Data Science team, which is a small team. Jacob Miller is our Manager, he came over from Southern Utah University, where he was a professor teaching Data Science with an emphasis on business applications. We also have two other full-time hires in the US, and one over in India. This July will mark my 3rd year at Pattern. In general, the Data Science team focuses on solving business problems through machine learning, analytics, and artificial intelligence.

Being on this team has been awesome, as our team is so small, so we’re able to touch base with many other teams. We work on projects with the logistics team creating forecasting models. This allows us to optimise in-stock rates, telling us when to order from our brands, when we should be sending it to Amazon, Walmart, and eBay, and how long the process will take.

We also work with the advertising team, with things like maximising return on ad-spend and making use of particular keywords. We are also assisting the business development and sales team to automate their sales process. Our team will do research on brand size, ratings, reviews, and number of products. We touch on a lot of different projects throughout departments across the whole of Pattern, which are always new and interesting, and never stale.

I think the awesome part about it is the fact that they are meaningful projects, and I don’t ever feel like I’m doing something bureaucratic. We get to see a project from start to implementation to follow through and then observe the impact that it makes, which we then measure while working with those different teams and their expertise. I love the flexibility at Pattern, the insights into different sides of the business and the chance to learn from other teams.

The work you do, is it just in the U.S. or do you work on international projects too?

Our projects usually start with an emphasis on the US, specifically the Amazon marketplace in the US, as this is where our headquarters are based in the states and the majority of our business is with Amazon. From there, we try and adapt our models to work for other countries and marketplaces. Sometimes this requires collecting new data and or collaborating with teams from other Countries. Occasionally the data isn’t available in other marketplaces which requires us to get creative in our problem solving.

Why do you choose to work at Pattern?

I love the people at Pattern, and there are a lot of values that people share that I also share. For example, I think the company has strong family values and understand that there are more important things in life than work and making money. There has been a lot of flexibility with work life balance and important family meetings. Connecting with other people who share these same values is important to me. I also love the growth aspect of Pattern, it feels like we are constantly evolving, reaching new heights, and aspiring to new things.

We are always looking for new business opportunities to slice & dice data. People are coming to us, specifically data science team, looking for opportunities to optimise and solve different problems. Recently, Dave Wright, Pattern’s Co-Founder & CEO, has emphasised that we try not to have a lot of bureaucracy, and I think it's amazing that we are so nimble, we don’t have to jump through a bunch of loops or paperwork to get things done.

Anyone, if they have a good enough idea, and they have the drive to do it, can go out and do it and make it happen by connecting with the right people, just starting to collect data, or showing value. Anyone can be a game changer in that regard and there is a lot of cross team collaboration, a lot of freedom to explore ideas and flexibility to learn from mistakes. I think this is important, it helps people feel comfortable and drives growth.

What would you say the most rewarding part of working at Pattern has been in your experience?

Probably the connections with co-workers and the opportunities to learn. I think I would have a hard time feeling valued at a company if I wasn’t making an impact. So, the combination of being able to learn and making an impact at the same time is hugely important to me so I don’t feel like I am stagnated in my career growth. I think at Pattern they let you grow in your career development and make an impact for the business at the same time.

Last question, why would you recommend working at Pattern?

We are a fast-growing company that allows ambitious people to make a difference where they want to. We really do align with our core values. I love the amount of data we have access to, and it is evident from the leadership side of things, that they support spending to collect valuable data that can then be used in business applications. It is a data scientist’s dream and playbox to explore. If I was hiring someone to join my team, I would promote the amount of data we have. The people at Pattern are amazing, humble, and hardworking. There are no big egos, and I think people are more interested in working hard, getting things done, and having a good time doing it rather than getting recognised for it.

We’re growing our team at Pattern!

If you're looking to start a career in ecommerce or even if you're a seasoned professional and want to learn more about our exciting opportunities, check out our open positions here.