Strategy into sequenced delivery
I break large, ambiguous initiatives into manageable pieces: roadmap, functional specifications, pilots and rollout plans that leadership can steer by.
Program and delivery leadership · Retail and ecommerce
Matthew Fouts
For 14+ years I have led cross-functional programs from strategy to shipped results: same-day delivery, marketplace launches, order management and store fulfillment, most recently at American Eagle Outfitters.
Open to Director roles · Remote, US
- Director, Program Management
- Director, Ecommerce
- Director, Technical Programs
- Head of Delivery / PMO
- 800+ stores
- on Same Day Delivery at American Eagle, which my team launched on AEO.com with DoorDash
- 30+ teams
- technical teams on that launch, from checkout to store operations and support
- 50+ people
- on my American Eagle teams, across development, QE, performance and support
- 2018 award
- Magento Imagine Excellence Award, Best-in-Class Fulfillment, for Rural King
How I lead
Structure for complex work, alignment for the people doing it
I connect business objectives with execution. I bring structure to complex work and help teams handle competing priorities, risks and change. Here is what that looks like in practice.
Every function on one plan
Product, engineering, architecture, QA, data, operations and outside partners work from one plan, with trade-offs and risks raised early instead of discovered late. Same Day Delivery at American Eagle took 30+ technical teams, from checkout to store operations and support.
Budget, people and partners
At American Eagle I managed four key teams with 50+ people across development, QE, performance and support. At Rural King I owned the ecommerce software-development budget, direct reports and their evaluations, and led 20+ developers. I have also worked with agency partners on an ecommerce replatform and run enterprise-client relationships through statements of work and contract negotiation.
Delivery that holds up
I brought Scrum to Rural King’s development team and hold active Certified ScrumMaster and Certified Scrum Product Owner credentials. The goal is predictable delivery that does not depend on heroics.
Selected work
Omnichannel programs at retail scale
- Led a 50+ person team across development, QE, performance and support that launched Same Day Delivery on AEO.com with DoorDash to 800+ stores, working with 30+ technical teams from checkout to store operations and support.
- Managed four key teams: two in Global Inventory & Sourcing, Fulfillment & Engagement, and On-Demand Printing.
- My fulfillment team also launched American Eagle’s DoorDash Marketplace and TikTok Shop integrations, putting the brands on new channels.
- Owned the roadmap, planning, prioritization and functional specifications for projects of diverse scope and high complexity.
- Took initiatives from ideation through pilot, prototype and operationalization with developers, architects, QA, data analysts and product managers.
- Project manager on the Magento Commerce replatform of RuralKing.com, which won Magento’s 2018 Imagine Excellence Award for Best-in-Class Fulfillment.
- Created and launched Ship-to-Store, expanding from two distribution centers to 60+ stores, and rolled out Buy Online, Pick Up In Store to more than 110 stores.
- Owned the ecommerce software-development budget, direct reports and evaluations; managed 20+ developers and brought Scrum to the team.
- Moved ecommerce shipping from UPS to FedEx with the logistics director, and launched new site search, filters and pricing and stock rules with the UX team.
- Worked with Magento’s Order Management team to improve the OMS against Rural King’s strategic goals.
Earlier
Customer Success DirectorSutrix Group
2022, part-time
Enterprise accounts including T-Mobile and Elastic Path: statements of work, client presentations, contract negotiation and escalations.
IT ManagerJohns Dental Laboratories
2016 – 2017
VMware and Veeam infrastructure, Active Directory and Wi-Fi consolidation, and a company-wide knowledge portal with ticketing.
Project ManagerSensortags Inc.
2011 – 2016
Led programming, design and market-research teams on an ecommerce site grown through search and paid marketing; global sourcing and risk plans that cut costs.
Project ManagerFouts Ventures
2007 – 2016
More than 300 client websites, a call-center platform grown from 4 to 520 users, $20,000–$100,000 contracts, and domestic and international teams.
Founder and CEORose-Learning and Prof-desk
2007 – 2011
Tutoring and education-technology companies started while studying at Rose-Hulman.
What leaders say
From the people I have delivered with
“Matt possesses a unique blend of strategic thinking, attention to detail, and leadership skills…”
“…a solid track record of delivering highly cross-functional projects involving domestic and international teams…”
“He is experienced in managing complex programs with consistent, successful results.”
Point of view
“AI can build the pieces. Someone still has to make sure they fit.”
I recently split the build of a castle, for a game I’m making in Unreal Engine, between six AI agents: keep, barracks, chapel, stables, courtyard and gatehouse. Every module passed its own validation. Put together, the buildings needed 3,256 units of width, and the castle ward had 2,800. Every agent succeeded. The project failed.
The valuable work is moving up a level: defining the architecture, managing dependencies, catching conflicting assumptions, deciding what should not be automated, and owning the final outcome. That is the Director’s job, and it is the one I want.
Off the clock
Tournament chess since 1996
Chess taught me to plan several moves ahead, look for the threat before it lands, and make sound decisions with the clock running. I still run programs that way.
Fouts vs. Firman 1–0
Masters and Future Masters, Philadelphia, June 2003 · Round 5
Pirc Defense: Classical Variation (B07) · 27 moves
Use the left and right arrow keys to step through the game, Home and End to jump.
Start position. Press play or pick a move.
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Nazar Firman was an International Master rated 2505 at the time. He earned the grandmaster title in 2011. Game score on chessgames.com.
2006
Indiana state high school champion
Four players tied for first in the high school section of the State Chess Tournament. The title went to me on tiebreak, with the Teddy Jacobi $2,000 scholarship.
Source: Tribune-Star, May 9, 2006
2004–06
Three straight state team titles
Won the Indiana state high school team championship three years running with Terre Haute South Vigo High School.
Source: Tribune-Star, March 7, 2006 (the 2004 and 2005 titles)
2006
National Junior Chess Congress winner
First place individually in the 17–18 section, and first place as a team with Terre Haute South Vigo High School.
Source: Tribune-Star, March 7, 2006
2003
Beat Nazar Firman and a 10-year-old Fabiano Caruana
At the Masters and Future Masters, a 10-player event in Philadelphia at the start of World Open week, I scored 3 of 5 and gained 89 rating points. I beat International Master Nazar Firman, who days later tied for first in the World Open, and Fabiano Caruana, the future World Championship challenger. My only losses were to grandmasters Jaan Ehlvest and Pavel Blatný. The result earned me a Life Master-level norm.
Sources: US Chess crosstable · the Firman game · World Open results
Simuls
Two draws with Hikaru Nakamura
Both came in simultaneous exhibitions, where he takes on a room of players at once. I also attended the chess camps his family ran at their home in New York.
Also president of the Rose-Hulman Chess Club.
Education and credentials
An engineer’s training, a manager’s toolkit
M.S., Engineering Management
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology · 2014
Supply chain management, technology management and forecasting, business law and accounting.
B.S., Engineering Physics
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology · 2010
Electrical engineering concentration. Undergraduate research on a femtosecond laser project at Rose-Hulman Ventures; student government senator.
Certifications
- Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM)
- Certified Scrum Product Owner® (CSPO)
Toolkit
Delivery
- Program and portfolio management
- Roadmapping
- Budgeting
- Vendor and agency management
- Agile and Scrum
- Risk and change management
Commerce
- Magento / Adobe Commerce
- Order management (OMS)
- Ship-to-Store and BOPIS
- Carrier integration
- Marketplace integrations
- Site search and pricing rules
Tools
- Confluence
- Trello
- Bitbucket
- Slack
- VMware and Veeam
Contact
Hiring a Director for program management, ecommerce or delivery?
I’m open to Director-level roles, remote across the US. Email is the fastest way to reach me.
Based in Terre Haute, Indiana.