3 Questions with AppLovin’s newly-appointed Chief People Officer, Christina Seafort
AppLovin announced today the appointment of Christina Seafort to its executive team as AppLovin’s Chief People Officer. Hear directly from Christina on embarking on her new role, joining AppLovin’s leadership team, and what she’s most interested in focusing on after all her years leading people teams at Amazon, Monster Energy, Tickets.com, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Warner Bros.
How do you see HR’s role in an organization?
Christina: Human resources plays a critical role, especially in these unprecedented times with the future workforce with remote and hybrid dynamics, and increasing demand for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Employees today demand more from their employers and want an employee experience that provides a sense of purpose and belonging. The HR team is uniquely situated to address these core needs, serving as the link between the voice of the employees and leadership.
I consider all employees as our core customers, and the people operations team serves to enhance the entire employee lifecycle – from the moment a candidate considers a job to the end of an employee’s journey. Beyond processes and policies (which should be as minimal, simple and adaptable as needed), the role of HR is to operationalize people strategies that meet the evolving needs and values of our employees while engaging them to perform their best work to deliver company goals.
What about AppLovin are you most excited about doing in your new role? What’s most important to you?
Christina: I’m very impressed with Adam, Herald and the entire AppLovin leadership team’s emphasis on people to achieve company goals in a culture of excellence and camaraderie. It’s a rare combination and it excites me the most about joining the team.
As I dive in, I am looking to further build and shape AppLovin’s great employee culture, continuing to make it a Great Place to Work for employees everywhere, focus on career and company growth quarter over quarter, and winning the war on talent and retention. I am also very interested in exploring synergies with our mergers and acquisitions growth (something I have experience with at Amazon and prior companies), ensuring our company benefits program addresses the varying needs of our diverse global employees and their families, leveraging HR technology for analytics and automation, and expanding leadership diversity. Today’s teams look very different from when I started my career more than 25 years ago and I feel honored to be able to lead AppLovin’s People team as we navigate a new norm.
What brought you to this type of work?
Christina: I started my career as an attorney and gravitated to employment law as it was the most interesting legal work. You are constantly evolving to keep pace with changing workforce dynamics – and I love employment law’s unpredictable nature and it captured my interest and attention from day one.
What I’m most truly passionate about is the opportunity to help others achieve their professional goals in today’s workplaces by aligning individual strengths and passion with core business needs, contributing to a high-growth business. As technology and the pandemic are evolving the future workforce, continuously investing in existing talent with robust learning and development opportunities, supporting employee growth and inclusivity, and attracting new talent is critical to deliver on both short and long term business strategies.
Transitioning from an attorney providing legal counsel to overseeing human resources and people operations was a very natural fit for me. I made that choice many years ago – I love what I do, and I have not looked back as I can have a greater positive workforce impact in the people operations space. I can’t wait to get started at AppLovin!
Christina officially joins AppLovin May 16, 2022. She will oversee all aspects of AppLovin’s employee and workplace operations, including global Talent Acquisition, people operations and analytics, HR Business Partners, facilities and security, DEI, Compensation and Benefits, and Learning and Development.
Welcome to team AppLovin, Christina. We are thrilled you are here!