Fanatics, Inc. named Karen Ruby senior vice president of human resources. Ruby, who brings nearly 20 years of global HR experience across multiple disciplines, will be in charge of overseeing all human resources programs for the company, including recruiting and retention, career development, performance management and compensation and benefits.
Ruby will report directly to Fanatics CEO Doug Mack and will be based out of the company’s Silicon Valley office. Ruby joins Fanatics from Amazon, where she was most recently a director of human resources for its digital device organization, where she led a multi-site human resources team across a portfolio of strategic organizations, including marketing, offline retail, product management, business development and design. During her seven years at Amazon, Ruby served in a variety of leadership roles in both the retail and digital divisions, while also leading human resources and recruiting for the company’s new initiatives team, which ultimately launched three different v1 products in 2014.
“Karen’s extensive skill-set and experience as a top HR leader will be a tremendous asset to ensure that our business goals are well supported by best-in-class talent strategies,” said Mack. “As the primary advocate of our culture and values, Karen will play a key role in cultivating the continued growth and development of our world-class team across all geographies.”
Prior to joining Amazon, Ruby held several human resources leadership positions with Washington Mutual (now Chase) in its corporate and retail divisions.
“The talented people and incredible culture at Fanatics will help drive the company’s continued growth, and I’m so excited to be joining this team,” said Ruby. “As a life-long sports fan, the idea that every employee can impact the customer experience through their own passions resonates with me professionally as well as personally. It’s an amazing place to build a career and make an impact, especially if you’re a fan.”
An honors graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Ruby has also worked as an HR leader across various business functions at Dell, Microsoft and CapGemini.
Fanatics is a market leader for officially licensed sports merchandise. A top 50 Internet Retailer Company, Fanatics comprises the broadest online assortment by offering hundreds of thousands of officially licensed items via its Fanatics (www.fanatics.com) and FansEdge (www.fansedge.com) brands, as well as sports collectibles and memorabilia through Fanatics Authentic (www.fanaticsauthentic.com). A multi-channel company, Fanatics operates more than 300 online and offline stores, including the e-commerce business for all major professional sports leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NASCAR, PGA), major media brands (NBC Sports, CBS Sports, FOX Sports) and more than 150 collegiate and professional team properties.
