Staff Spotlight – Tao Vink

Tao Vink is more than just Polymathian's resident kiwi: he's a long-time Polymathian team leader who has helped shape the company, culture and product development. Tao attended university in his hometown of Christchurch, New Zealand, before leaving for Australia to pursue a job opportunity not long after finishing uni.

Let's get to know Tao Vink.

• How did you come to work at Polymathian?
  
• At University I studied commerce with an honours in operations research, which is the mathematical study of resource allocation problems. After finishing school, I got a job with a simulation company here in Australia, where I came to know one of Polymathian’s co-founders. The offer to join Polymathian as a product manager came just as I was finishing up a secondment at Rio Tinto’s Centre of Excellence and completing my MBA. The timing was perfect.

• What is your role at here?
  
• I am the BOLT product manager. BOLT is Polymathian’s supply chain optimisation software. I spend my days setting priorities and giving daily direction to the team. I also manage project life cycles, the sales process, demos, and training. I really love the mix of activities my job provides.

• Tell me about an industry trend impacting how BOLT supports customers.
• Industry has come a long way over the last decade. It is far more mature in its use of decision support tools. I see a big shift of moving away from spreadsheets and towards more robust software solutions like the ones Polymathian provides. There is also a desire to make the best possible use of all the available data in our modern operating environments.

• What's your biggest work-related pet peeve?
• My biggest somewhat work-related pet peeve is commuting. I am not a fan.

• What do you like most about working at Polymathian?
• I think everyone says this, but it’s the people. I’m proud of the people we’ve been able to attract to the company and the culture we’ve built. I am especially proud of the reputation that Polymathian has in the industry. Other than the people, it's the interesting and diverse projects that I get to work on.

• What's your go-to productivity tip?
• I don't have one. Do you have one for me? But seriously, I see my role as team leader as the person who is "interruptible". I am the one that should be fielding questions and not being concerned with how productive I am each day.

• What's the weirdest job you've ever had?
• Back home in NZ, I delivered potatoes to fish and chips shops. We got paid a flat rate to deliver our route regardless of how long it took us do do it, so the driver and I would try to figure out the quickest route to take each day – always trying to beat our best time.

• So, in a way, that was your first supply chain optimisation job?
• Yeah, exactly. But at that job we got free fish and chips as a perk.

• Describe your job to a child?
• My daughter says, "daddy does 'putering".

• If you have 30 minutes of free time, what would you do with it?
• [laughs] As the father of a newborn, if I had 30 minutes to myself, I'd probably take a nap.

• What's something new you've learned recently?
  
• How to renovate a bathroom. It's something that I've spent far too much time thinking about recently.🚽

• Best concert ever?
  
• Red Hot Chili Peppers. Christchurch doesn't get a lot of big name concerts, but I really loved seeing them.

• If you are making dinner for your family, what are you making?
  
• Lasagne 100%

• Do you have a nickname?
  
• No

• What does Tao mean?
  
• In Māori it means a long wooden spear but that's just a coincidence because it's actually just an amalgamation of family members' names.

• What is something that has made you smile recently?
  
• As I mentioned, I have a newborn daughter so she's providing lots of reasons to smile lately. I've also really enjoyed seeing how well my older daughter has taken to her baby sister.

I hope you enjoyed getting to know Tao as much as I did. If you would like to get Tao's lasagne recipe or discuss supply chain optimisation protocols, you can connect with him on LinkedIn.

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About the interviewer

Tami Pizani is a member of the Polymathian marketing team and has made it her mission to shine a spotlight on the employees behind Polymathian's success. Tami loves a great underdog story, discovering commonalities when meeting someone new, and a healthy debate over the use of the Oxford comma. You can connect with Tami on LinkedIn.