Matt Hirst

Product Specialist / Category Manager

1A Auto · Full-time · Jul 2023 — May 2026 · 2 yrs 11 mos · Pepperell, Massachusetts · Remote

HIGHLIGHT: In week one of 1A's Claude Code Enterprise rollout, I built a SKU-level return-rate analysis app (Python + SQL) that tied returns to P&L for the first time. Presented findings to the CEO and two directors. Toolchain contributed to Amazon return rate dropping 13% → 9% in three months at a $250-300M ecommerce parts retailer. ~1,500 worst-offender SKUs of weekly triage now route across ten operators.

Product Specialist + Category Manager for multiple product lines (HVAC, fuel lines, mounts, emissions control, weatherstripping). Own category strategy, a 37-vendor portfolio (11 overseas, 18 domestic, 8 dropship), and multi-channel publication across 1A Auto, Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and a dozen additional marketplace channels.

AI Tooling & Analytics

• Shipped ~10 internal AI tools at 1A using Claude Code Enterprise (Returns App, SKU Re-Sourcing tradeoff model, Amazon cross-check scraper, Vendor Product Analysis tool, and more).
• Tied analytics-to-action for executive audiences (CEO + Director presentations).

Data Governance & Cross-Functional Oversight

• Track product information, MDM health, and publication workflows across data and IT teams; partner to escalate, diagnose, and resolve downstream issues.
• Feed granular data issues back into root-cause analysis so systemic problems are fixed once rather than patched repeatedly.

Vendor Management & Strategic Sourcing

• Manage relationships with 11 overseas, 18 domestic, and 8 dropship vendors.
• Source new vendor opportunities; assess SKU offerings vs. current coverage; negotiate pricing and shipping.
• Maintain strong vendor partnerships across new product launches and ongoing data/fulfillment improvements.

Senior Catalog Analyst

FleetPride · Feb 2020 — Jul 2023 · 3 yrs 6 mos · Irving, Texas

HIGHLIGHT: Lead product information data stakeholder on the team that built FleetPride's in-house SQL-backed MDM/PIM platform from scratch. We grew the catalog from 0 to 1M+ parts during my tenure, driving eCommerce from 0% to ~30% of company's $3B+ revenue (12-month sprint from 500K to 1M+ during this senior stretch).

Managed FleetPride's Product MDM/PIM system for companywide internal systems and sales websites in support of 400+ branches and 7 Distribution Centers. Managed deep automotive product data at scale: 1,000,000+ parts, 5,700,000+ Application (parts-to-vehicle fitment) records, 11,450,000+ Interchange (cross-brand substitutability) records, 350,000+ digital assets; PIES/ACES industry data standards throughout.

• Contributed database infrastructure guidance and stored procedures for data automation alongside developers; partnered on ETL/XML-shredding design.
• Customer-side SME inside Stibo Professional Services consulting sessions throughout the STEP enterprise MDM migration — teaching legacy data model and ingestion patterns so the deployment captured business-critical metadata correctly.
• ServiceNow Manager for the 14-person MDM department at 96% resolution rate (46% improvement since early 2022; average response time dropped from 3+ weeks to under two weeks, often within 10 days).
• Fielded product-data escalations from 400+ branches and 7 distribution centers; partnered with IT teams on downstream publication lineage from STEP MDM to Salesforce/CloudCraze, COVEO, Boomi, and Akamai; root-cause analysis driving systemic fixes rather than recurring patches.
• Led Top 10% product enrichment project to Gold Standard, resulting in +10% YTD sales lift.
• Managed work across 25+ third-party data fulfillment partners.

Catalog Analyst

FleetPride · Feb 2018 — Feb 2020 · 2 yrs 1 mo · Irving, TX · Hybrid

Product Information lead analyst. Specialist managing the eCommerce product database and corresponding digital presence on FleetPride.com via SQL.

• Maintained eCommerce product database for both private label and aftermarket OEM parts.
• Onboarded vendor product information through PIES and ACES industry data standards (automated via SQL XML shredding) and direct vendor templates.
• Discovered, standardized, and automated solutions for recurring data issues using SQL procedures.
• Reporting and analytics across internal product listings and vendor partner gaps.
• KPI design, generation, and publishing to drive eCatalog Team work.

Catalog Researcher

FleetPride · Sep 2017 — Feb 2018 · 6 mos · Grapevine, Texas

Worked as part of the corporate eCatalog team to collect product information at the main distribution warehouse. Took the lead on physically gathering product information — identifying parts lacking good vendor data, then collecting via Cubiscan machine and other manual methods. Assisted in basic product database management; learned FleetPride's product taxonomy, part categorization, and eCommerce PIM workflows.