Getting to know Shawn Mandel, the leader behind the digitization journey at Rogers

Digital experiences have never been more important than they are now. Customers expect easy, on-demand, immediate access to services and support and the pandemic has only accelerated this trend.

To get ahead of the curve, Rogers is investing in digital capabilities that deliver the best user experiences by building amazing self-serve capabilities that our customers want to use. Leading the team’s journey to unleash a truly Digital Rogers is Shawn Mandel, Senior Vice President of Digital. Shawn brings with him over 20 years of experience in digital adoption, data, design and technology in various industries, including working at Rogers in product development for 7 years earlier in his career. We sat down with Shawn to get to know him and his vision for the Digital team. Here’s what he had to say.

You moved over to Rogers to help lead the Digital team from another large organization. What attracted you to join the company?

There’s a lot of reasons I made the decision to come back to Rogers. First off, I’m here for the people, I work with a great team and I get the opportunity to work with people I’ve collaborated with in the past. What also appeals to me is that Rogers stands for something – the company has entrenched values, is really leaning into inclusion and diversity and we’re very committed to the communities that we serve. We have an impact on millions of customers across the country through our services and it feels good to be a part of that. I also joined the team at an exciting period in the company’s history. We’re making the right investments to drive innovation – from the proposed Shaw merger to our leading investment in the 3500 MHz spectrum auction – and it’s exciting to be part of an impactful organization that is leading the way in Canada.

You’ve been in the role for over 8 months now, what has surprised you most?

What’s surprised me the most is the incredible calibre of talent on the Digital team and the amazing culture we have. We have an exceptional team, with team members who have a strong point of view on what they want to do. A big part of what I’m really focused on is finding ways to unleash this team and enable them to bring their ideas to life – from solving unique problems to building cutting edge technology capabilities for our customers.

What is the Digital team focused on?

At the beginning of the year, we laid out five key priorities that will guide us in everything that we design, develop and bring to life for our customers and those are:

• People, brand and culture – Committed to building a diversified workforce that prioritizes growth and development
• Digital first experiences – Continuing to enhance our digital capabilities and building new experiences
• Modern marketing enablement – Embracing agile ways of working and enhancing our personalization capabilities for customers buying and managing their products
• Delivery excellence – Establishing a modern developer experience 
• Secure and reliable performance – Create world class response time on our support platforms

The outcome of hitting these priorities will make it easier for our customers to shop on our digital platforms and get the services and support they need wherever they are.

What are some challenges and opportunities the Digital team faces?

Rogers has been around for over 60 years and with that comes some legacy technology that we’re working our way through. While we have the resources available to do so, we need seasoned technologists that will help modernize our stack. We have a design and modernization orientation that we need to embrace and we’re looking for developers who are going to help us be better product owners and help us deliver meaningful experiences that reach millions of Canadians. I would also say that there’s no better time than now to join the team as we’re really ramping up on exciting work focussed on the priorities I called out before.

Where do you see the future of Rogers Digital going?

We’re on our path to creating a world-class Digital team where inclusion and diversity are at the centre. We’ve made some great strides in digital to simplify our business so that we effectively digitize our company, but there’s still a lot of untapped opportunity here. Rogers has the resources to invest in cutting-edge capabilities and we have a leadership team who is committed to pushing boundaries in this space and who believe in the developer experience. I’m really excited for the journey we’re on and the future of this team.

Are you looking to grow your career and play a key role in building the future of Digital & Technology at Rogers? Check out our open roles at Rogers Digital today!