About

About Mark Bradley

Mark Bradley, of Oakland, California, considers himself a nerd at heart. He is a problem solver who enjoys taking on challenges, collaborating with people, and constantly improving. This has served him well throughout his career in leadership and product management positions across retail, IT, and banking. Mark is also much more than his inner nerd, with interests that encompass writing music, exploring the outdoors, softball, video games, vegan food, and volunteering.

Mark Bradley’s Career

For more than a decade, Mark has worked in IT with well-known, established companies. After working as a customer service coordinator, he got his start in IT when working at Peet’s Coffee in Emeryville, California. The IT and digital product management experience during that time fostered his passion for this discipline, drawing him to its constant evolution and opportunity to be a problem solver and continuously learn. It was a perfect fit for Mark Bradley.

Breaking Ground at Peet’s Coffee

He worked as Software QA and Program Manager, responsible for the launch of Peet’s new website and supervising a team of quality assurance engineers, off-shore QA, business analysts, and the UAT team. At the same time, Mark also project-managed the improvement of how Peet’s tracked their inventory and coffee orders to grocery stores. The project was such a success that Mark was asked to spearhead other major projects, including launching a new loyalty program on Peet’s first mobile app and developing order-ahead capabilities as Digital Product Manager of Mobile Apps.

His responsibilities as Digital Product Manager included collaborating with stakeholders at all levels to define the company’s vision, meticulously maintaining roadmap priorities, and communicating risk and mitigation plans. He partnered with Tech Leads to scope and communicate the business value to the engineering team, creating mock-ups, specifying requirements, and writing user stories for UX and IT. He also performed an implementation lead role, managing product launches and post-launch support, providing hands-on customer support, answering help tickets, debugging issues, and providing training.

Safeway Comes Calling

During the roll-out of the mobile order-ahead feature at Peet’s, Mark was recruited by Safeway (Albertson’s) and, after a year, was promoted to Senior Product Manager, where he built a robust and diverse team and together launched several lucrative projects on the grocer’s mobile app. Based on his excellent track record, Mark was again promoted to Director of Product, Mobile Apps. He worked closely with the leadership team to define the company’s mobile vision and strategy, leading and developing a customer-obsessed product team to deliver on the established roadmap. Mark is proud of the team he built and mentored a talented product manager who was ready to take on his role when he left. She was one of the first woman directors of Safeway’s flagship unified mobile app.

Head of Mobile Apps, VP of Product, US Bank

Mark Bradley of Oakland was recruited by US Bank. He left retail behind to join the world of finance, a huge leap and learning opportunity for him. Mark has been a critical member of the bank’s leadership team for the last three years, defining its vision and strategy as well as crafting the supporting roadmap. Since Mark joined US Bank as their Head of Mobile Apps, the bank has received consecutive awards, ranking them #1 by multiple leading industry publications.

The Early Years

Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Mark and his sister were raised primarily by their young mom, who was 17 when Mark was born. Mark’s parents divorced when he was seven, leaving him to help out at home while his mom worked. When he was old enough, he took on odd jobs—from cleaning swimming pools to yard work and babysitting—contributing to the household. Growing up, Mark was fortunate to be surrounded by strong, caring women who instilled the values that he holds dearly: empathy and love.

Mark’s Academic Studies

Mark’s mother instilled the importance of education every step of the way. By the time he was in the fifth grade, he was reading at a twelfth-grade level. He continued to excel in high school while also working at K-Mart at 15 and later at a small local business. Mark graduated high school with honors and finished at the top of his class. He also fell in love with the guitar and played in a band in his late teens and early twenties, and he continues to play in bands today.

He obtained his Associate’s Degree in Music Performance and Classical Guitar from NMSU, Las Cruces, New Mexico, and later received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Analysis and Consulting from Sonoma State University, California. Coming from a low-income family, Mark worked full-time throughout college at Target and Peet’s to cover tuition and living expenses.

Love of Family, A People Person

Mark’s family and friends are the world to him. He met his wife Jami while they both attended California State University, Stanislaus (he later transferred to Sonoma State after Jami graduated). They have been married for nine years and together for 18 years. Jami is his inspiration and rock. They plan on adding to their family by adopting a dog from Berkeley Humane or Bad Rap once they are certain they can provide an excellent home.

He loves meeting new people, learning from them, and making each person feel welcome, appreciated, and recognized. In addition to creating safe space, Mark also cares about their physical safety and, in this spirit, became first-aid certified for wilderness rescue (NOLS), CPR-certified, and certified to deliver Naloxone in emergencies.

A Broad Range of Hobbies

Mark Bradley’s hobbies include playing guitar, writing music, attending live concerts, backpacking, camping, collecting vinyl records, playing Magic: the Gathering (a tabletop and digital collectible card game), playing with a co-ed softball team, volunteering to get out the vote, and eating delicious vegan food at fancy restaurants or cooking at home.

Mark Bradley, of Oakland, California has competed and won a couple of Magic: the Gathering events. Just recently, he won the Regional Championship Qualifier in Berkeley, California. This earned him an invite to the 2024 USA Regional Championship in Washington, DC, where he finished with a winning record and in the top third of the competition.