● Watch Now


American ShipperBusinessGlobal Supply ChainNewsTechnology

Flexport reunites ex-Amazon HR exec with incoming CEO Dave Clark

Hiring to help growing logistics company manage workforce expansion

Eric Kulisch
·
A worker checks inventory at a Flexport warehouse in China. (Photo: Flexport)

Flexport, a rapidly growing logistics services provider out front in automating international trade processes in a central platform, said Thursday it has hired a former top executive at Amazon and close colleague of incoming co-CEO Dave Clark as chief human resources officer.

Darcie Henry will join the company, effective Oct. 24, after spending the past year in the same role at Snap Inc., the parent company of social media app Snapchat, the San Francisco-based freight forwarder announced. 

Before that, Henry spent 23 years at Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), where she was instrumental in helping the retail and tech giant massively expand its workforce for the Amazon store, fulfillment and logistics. As vice president of HR, global consumer and operations, she led a team of thousands of human resources professionals, serving hundreds of thousands of employees around the globe.

The hire is significant because Henry worked closely with Clark at Amazon and knows what type of talent he is looking for and how to quickly scale up an organization. Clark headed Amazon’s Worldwide Consumer unit and was the brains behind the online retailer’s transport and logistics network, including a private cargo airline with a fleet of nearly 100 aircraft.


Clark is scheduled to start Sept. 1 as co-CEO with founder Ryan Petersen. They will share the job for six months before Petersen becomes executive chairman.

“Darcie brings decades of leadership experience scaling fast-growing teams and building mission-oriented cultures at some of the world’s most innovative and influential companies,” Petersen said in a news release. “As we look ahead to a new era of growth at Flexport, Darcie will be the perfect leader to help us build a world-class team to fulfill our mission of making global trade easy for everyone.”

The 9-year-old company doubled revenue to $3.3 billion and posted its first profit in 2021, moving more than $19 billion worth of goods through its digital platform. The company has raised more than $2.3 billion and has many blue-chip customers. Clark is expected to build a sustainable model for continued growth as the company matures.

Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.


RECOMMENDED READING: 

Flexport nabs Amazon’s Dave Clark for CEO role

Hellmann Worldwide takes control of Peru air forwarder

Eric Kulisch

Eric is the Supply Chain and Air Cargo Editor at FreightWaves. An award-winning business journalist with extensive experience covering the logistics sector, Eric spent nearly two years as the Washington, D.C., correspondent for Automotive News, where he focused on regulatory and policy issues surrounding autonomous vehicles, mobility, fuel economy and safety. He has won two regional Gold Medals and a Silver Medal from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for government and trade coverage, and news analysis. He was voted best for feature writing and commentary in the Trade/Newsletter category by the D.C. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He won Environmental Journalist of the Year from the Seahorse Freight Association in 2014 and was the group's 2013 Supply Chain Journalist of the Year. In December 2022, Eric was voted runner up for Air Cargo Journalist by the Seahorse Freight Association. As associate editor at American Shipper Magazine for more than a decade, he wrote about trade, freight transportation and supply chains. He has appeared on Marketplace, ABC News and National Public Radio to talk about logistics issues in the news. Eric is based in Vancouver, Washington. He can be reached for comments and tips at [email protected]