SEATTLE: Scott Stanzel, director of worldwide marketplace PR at Amazon, has departed the company after six years.
Wednesday was his last day at Amazon, Stanzel wrote in a LinkedIn post. He did not disclose his next move.
"It has been the experience of a lifetime working at this special place," Stanzel wrote. "The opportunity to witness and play a very small part in the incredible amount of change, invention, exploration, and growth that has occurred is something that I’ll cherish for the rest of my career."
Neither Stanzel nor an Amazon representative was immediately available for comment.
Stanzel has held various roles since joining Amazon in 2011. In his most recent position since January, he led all PR programs for Amazon Marketplace, which accounts for more than half of all Amazon sales worldwide. Previously, Stanzel managed the Amazon operations communications team for North America and Japan, which was responsible for media and public relations for Amazon's fulfillment centers, transportation, customer service, community relations, Prime Now, and Prime Air. He also led the Amazon consumer PR team for North America.
Last year, Stanzel was a prominent Amazon spokesperson when Bloomberg reported the company excluded predominantly black ZIP Codes from same-day delivery services.
In 2010, Stanzel was campaign manager for Defeat 1098, which successfully stopped the proposed Ballot Initiative 1098 from establishing an income tax in Washington State.
From 2006 to 2009, he was deputy assistant to President George W. Bush and deputy press secretary, managing media relations strategy and serving as a spokesperson on domestic policy, homeland security, and other issues.
Previously, Stanzel was senior product manager at Microsoft and had a prior stint in the Bush White House from 2001 to 2003 as a spokesperson. He was also assistant press secretary for Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) earlier in his career.
Amazon, which bought Whole Foods Market in June for $13.7 billion, reported second-quarter numbers that beat analysts’ expectations on revenue but missed badly on income, according to CNBC.
Amazon brought on Hunter Public Relations for PR and marcomms services for its U.S. retail business in May. Weber Shandwick was the incumbent on the account, though it continues to work on other parts of Amazon’s business.
