Upwork Welcomes New Chief Product & Experience Officer, Sam Bright
Upwork (UPWK) has appointed Sam Bright as its new Chief Product & Experience Officer. Bright brings over 16 years of experience in scaling technology and improving customer experiences. He previously held leadership roles at eBay, overseeing North American vertical business units and executing numerous partnerships. Bright's background includes advising on over $10 billion in tech mergers and acquisitions. His vision aligns with Upwork’s mission to transform work and create economic opportunities, aiming to enhance the user experience in the platform.
- Appointment of Sam Bright as Chief Product & Experience Officer expected to strengthen leadership.
- Bright's extensive experience at eBay and in tech mergers suggests potential for impactful strategies.
- None.
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Upwork (UPWK), the world’s largest work marketplace, today announced Sam Bright has joined the company as its new Chief Product & Experience Officer.
Bright is a senior operating executive with over 16 years of extensive experience scaling technology teams, businesses, and customer experiences. His career reflects a demonstrated track record of growing multi-billion dollar P&Ls, executing complex domestic and global transactions, and leading large teams through inflection points. Prior to joining Upwork, Bright was the Vice President and General Manager of Verticals at eBay and had P&L responsibility for the company’s North American vertical business units.
During prior roles at eBay, Bright executed 70+ partnerships in two years across B2C, C2C, product, marketing, verticals, and shipping domains, and spent time on the M&A strategy team, where he championed four transactions focused on machine translation, shipping, and cross-border trade. Before joining eBay, Bright advised on over
“At Upwork, we’re committed to propelling the world of work forward and providing both clients and talent with more control and freedom over their businesses and careers,” said Hayden Brown, President and CEO of Upwork. “Sam is an innovative, bold, and visionary leader who will make a major impact on how we help our customers unlock their potential and discover the truly transformational new way of working that is only available through the Upwork marketplace.”
“I’m excited by the opportunity to lead product, design, and customer experience for the company at the forefront of helping businesses, from small to large, discover a powerful new way of working,” said Bright. “Upwork’s work marketplace is transforming the way people work by giving them access to a dynamic virtual talent bench that helps them unlock new possibilities for their company. I am also inspired by Upwork’s mission of creating economic opportunities so people have better lives, and look forward to building upon the end-to-end experience that brings this mission to life in bold new ways.”
Bright holds an M.B.A. from Harvard University and a B.A. in Management from Taylor University. He is credentialed as an NACD Governance Fellow, and serves on the Board of Directors at Benetech as well as on the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum Advisory Council. Bright has been named to Black Enterprise’s 2018 List of the Most Influential Blacks in Technology, The Network Journal’s 2018 40 Under Forty class, and Savoy Magazine’s 2020 Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America.
About Upwork
Upwork is the world’s largest work marketplace, connecting millions of businesses with independent talent around the globe. We serve everyone from one-person startups to
