Humans of Zoomo: Meet Jil

At Zoomo, our people are the secret sauce to our success. Zoomers are a bunch of passionate, motivated and purpose-driven individuals all working towards the same mission of transitioning every urban delivery mile in light electric vehicles. 

Our #HumansofZoomo blog series aims to shine a light on Zoomers around the business, and the different skills and roles that make Zoomo what it is today. 

In today’s #HumansofZoomo blog we catch up with Jil Patel, Zoomo’s Global Strategy and Planning Manager. Jill tells us a little bit about herself and her role at Zoomo and shares some great tips for someone arriving for their first day. 

Tell us a bit about yourself?

​​I’m Jil Patel and I am a Global Strategy and Planning Manager within the Supply Chain team. I am an Actuary turned Data Scientist working in a Strategy & Planning role now. Outside of work, I enjoy being in nature, hiking, trying almost every restaurant in Melbourne and continuing to develop my personal fashion style.

What does a day in a life look like for you at Zoomo?

My day at Zoomo is typically putting out fires to unblock Zoomo growth or building to lay the foundations for the upcoming growth. In my role, this includes  running a global supply reallocation to ensure the e-bikes are exactly in the location needed to meet our customer’s demand. Or building a total cost of ownership model allowing us to weave together a strategy for higher customer uptime and development of a more durable e-bike at a reduced cost through focus on specific components.

What project are you most proud of at Zoomo?

Sales & Operations process (S&OP) is my most proud work at Zoomo. It is a process touching many different parts of the business and it has been my pleasure to bring structure, automation and trust to the process.

S&OP includes forecasting demand up to 12 months into the future, lining up supply of bikes to meet this demand by taking into consideration supply constraints (not easy thanks to covid and now war), capital constraints and operational capacity. With US, Europe and Australian regional teams and many functions in the central team a recommendation is formed and presented to C-Suite for an executive decision.

What are your top tips for someone arriving for their first day at Zoomo?

Get ready to drink from the fire hydrant! First day at Zoomo is like walking for much of your life and then learning to sprint. I love the pace at which we work at Zoomo and the speed at which we resolve problems and generate solutions.

My top tips are:

-   Be confident in your capability, you are hired for that reason

-   Cut through the noise and prioritize up to 3 items at any one time

-   Be yourself and have fun! (Bring #smilestomiles)

-   Build trust!

Rapid fire round - give us the first answer that comes to mind when we ask these questions:

1. Guilty pleasure TV show? Emily in Paris.
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2. Favourite toy as a child? I used to get bored of toys so typically played and broke anything in the house that i could find.
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3. What's a hobby of yours that you don't tell people about? Running, because i’m slow but i really enjoy it.
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4. Name a colleague at Zoomo you're in awe of. Oliver Nighjoy, Chief Financial Officer at Zoomo, has a wealth of experience, always in awe of the way he thinks through problems and makes decisions.
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5. What do you like about e-bikes? Bicycles have been around for centuries, where they have experienced ups and downs in their popularity for transport. The invention of an e-bike serves really well in our urban world providing convenience and contributing to a sustainable environment.
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We currently have a bunch of open roles across all markets. If you are interested in becoming a Human of Zoomo yourself, and are also keen to help us accelerate cities to carbon neutral, head to our Careers at Zoomo page.