Chris Putur
Executive Vice President, Technology and Operations
REI Co-op
Chris Putur serves as REI’s executive vice president of technology and operations. Putur joined the co-op in October 2017 as REI’s chief information officer and was promoted to her current role in 2019. Putur oversees REI’s information technology, information privacy and security, supply chain and continuous improvement teams. She is also the executive sponsor for the co-op’s Future of Work initiative.
During her time at REI, Putur has led the co-op’s strategic direction in using technology to enable outdoor experiences. Putur brings more than 25 years of success driving revenue growth, improving customer experiences, integrating acquisitions and reducing operating expenses in global retail and technology companies.
Before joining REI, Putur served as CIO for Coach, where she led the creation a multi-year investment plan to transform Coach’s core business processes and technical platforms from aged, geographically diverse solutions to a global, simplified, standardized, scalable foundation. The program spanned the technology capabilities for unified commerce, merchandise planning, finance, supply chain, procurement and human resources. Additionally, she created a truly global IT organization and reduced annual operating costs while improving capabilities in critical areas such as the customer experience and cyber security.
Prior to that, Putur was CIO for Staples, where she was responsible for global technology strategy and execution. Putur spent the first 15 years of her career at Digital Equipment Corporation and participated in the merger with Compaq.
Putur holds a Bachelor of Arts in administrative science and math from Colby College and a Master of Science in management information systems from the Boston University Graduate School of Management. Putur serves on the board of directors for the Information Services Group, a leading global technology and advisory firm and is a founding board member of the University of Washington’s iSchool.
Putur lives in Seattle with her husband, Steve, and their three daughters, where she enjoys running, biking, skiing, hiking and being outside in the sunshine.
During her time at REI, Putur has led the co-op’s strategic direction in using technology to enable outdoor experiences. Putur brings more than 25 years of success driving revenue growth, improving customer experiences, integrating acquisitions and reducing operating expenses in global retail and technology companies.
Before joining REI, Putur served as CIO for Coach, where she led the creation a multi-year investment plan to transform Coach’s core business processes and technical platforms from aged, geographically diverse solutions to a global, simplified, standardized, scalable foundation. The program spanned the technology capabilities for unified commerce, merchandise planning, finance, supply chain, procurement and human resources. Additionally, she created a truly global IT organization and reduced annual operating costs while improving capabilities in critical areas such as the customer experience and cyber security.
Prior to that, Putur was CIO for Staples, where she was responsible for global technology strategy and execution. Putur spent the first 15 years of her career at Digital Equipment Corporation and participated in the merger with Compaq.
Putur holds a Bachelor of Arts in administrative science and math from Colby College and a Master of Science in management information systems from the Boston University Graduate School of Management. Putur serves on the board of directors for the Information Services Group, a leading global technology and advisory firm and is a founding board member of the University of Washington’s iSchool.
Putur lives in Seattle with her husband, Steve, and their three daughters, where she enjoys running, biking, skiing, hiking and being outside in the sunshine.