MeettheTeam:JasonMcQuaid

JasonMcQuaidcelebrates 30YearsatWoolworths

WesatdownwithJason,ourCommercialDirectorof Chilled,DeliandBakeryfindoutwhatcontinuesto drivehimatWoolworths.

TalkusthroughyourjourneyhereatWoolworths!

What moments stand out to you most and have been crucial to shapingwhoWoolworthsistoday?

I started my first role on the checkouts at North Rockhampton, and then my career at Woolies just grew from there, having now had 15 different roles whilst at Woolworths. For the first nine years of my career, I had five roles across the Operations team in Queensland. I then relocated to Sydney, and for the last 21 years I’ve been in the Commercial team where I’ve had around 7 roles.

Whathavebeensomeofyourfavouriterolesand moments?

I had to pick a stand out it would certainly be the role I’m in now, as being able to lead teams is a fantastic privilege. Some other favourite moments include my first executive appointment to Category Manager in the Meat team, and I loved being the Merchandise Manager for Seafood because I have a passion for seafood and the environment, so it wasn’t hard to like what you did on a daily basis in that role. From a product point of view I really enjoyed relaunching our Roast Chickens, rolling out our Smarter Choice Pork range and also launching Quilton into our offer.

I’ve been through the ups and downs of our business over the last 30 years. One of the things I have learned is that momentum is so important in a business. Around 2016 our business was going through a very challenging period when our major competitor were taking market share off us in a big way. There were some very dark days when we were giving our all and the results were extremely disheartening but we never gave up. We basically had to start from scratch and make a lot of changes to get back on track. To come out the other end even stronger and to see the strength that is this business today is my most pleasing achievement personally.

You have created many fantastic teams whilst working as a Commercial Director for Woolworths - what do you look for when youcreateateam?

The last couple of years has thrown challenges at us that I would never have even considered previously but the resilience and spirit of our team has been incredible and I’m so proud to be part of this team. I believe it’s critical to build diversity in teams and also an environment where people can feel safe contributing and sharing their views. The power of a team will 9 times out of ten beat an individual. I’m very lucky to be in a leadership role in Woolworths and passionately believe in providing good food for Australian communities working with our Trade Partners. EDITION8 I JULY2022 16