A Day in the Life of Centerfield’s Senior Director of Operations

Alan Keane serves as Senior Director of Operations for Savings.com, a cornerstone of Centerfield’s E-commerce Services division. “Operations” covers a lot of ground, especially in the tech industry. So what does his job entail? Read on to learn about Alan’s background, and how his contract with the content team at Savoo evolved into a senior leadership role at Centerfield overseeing content teams and contractors for a number of global content platforms. 

Q: Can you give us a brief background on your career? How did you arrive at Centerfield?

A: I arrived at Centerfield with the Savings.com acquisition in 2020. I graduated college with a Bachelor of Commerce with a marketing specialization followed by a master’s degree in my native Ireland. After working for a few years in production and hospitality management, I got my start in the digital marketing space with Savings.com as a contractor heading up the content team for the Savoo.co.uk site launch, our first step in international markets. As the company’s international presence grew so did my role and responsibilities, enabling me to work cross-functionally with SEM, SEO, product, partnerships, sales, and tech teams. Now that Savings.com and the Savoo international sites are part of the Centerfield E-commerce Services division, I continue to develop our offerings and capabilities while driving very large volumes for our valued retail partners.

Q: Can you explain what your role entails?

A: My role entails everything from overseeing content teams and contractors for our 11 sites and 8 microsites worldwide and adding and updating monetizable content to hundreds of pages daily to working with internal SEM, SEO, product and sales teams and external partners, affiliate networks, and agencies on both established ongoing and new or in development projects. I’ve also been delighted with the opportunity the company offers to get involved in additional areas of the Centerfield business division portfolios where I can continue to learn and grow my career while leveraging my experience and knowledge.

Q: What’s the coolest thing you’re working on right now?

A: We are always looking for new ways to offer value to consumers while also looking for ways to give back to our users and the community, be that through rewards, incentives, and passive giving models. We’ve successfully incorporated charitable giving into our international site offerings, and I’m very excited to be working on a project for Savings.com launching in 2023 that will further our charitable partnerships in the U.S.

Q: What are your favorite things about working at Centerfield?

A: While an extremely successful and well-established organization with multiple market-leading divisions and a very large workforce, Centerfield retains a lean, collaborative, cross-functional feel and approach, with supportive and driven people at all levels that are great to work with.

Q: Any advice for people wanting to do what you do?

A: Be enthusiastic about and prepared to wear many hats, and be open to working cross-functionally. Doing so will give you a lot of experience and opportunities for growth. Operations in the tech space, I believe, are about applying resources when and where they’re needed. Being prepared to pivot and be flexible in your approach is so important.

Q: Any advice you’ve received in your career that helped you succeed?

A: I’ve been fortunate to work with senior leaders who put a lot of trust in me to work autonomously and have sought and valued my input, which is highly motivating. Some really important advice I’ve received is to slow down when speaking. It very much goes against my natural inclination, but it’s just extremely important to be heard clearly and understood.