Chandran Mavila began his career as an engineer with the Indian Air Force, countering difficult situations and ensuring the safety of others almost on a daily basis. It was his defence training that would later help him to get a job with an airlines firm for managing the risks of transporting dangerous goods (DG) on flights. Chandran later became one of the key personnel to set up the Dangerous Goods Regulation Training establishment, approved by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in India, for the airline.
Looking back, I realise that it was my formative years with the defence forces that led me to my passion in life—in a larger field of ensuring compliance, safety and security for men, material and the environment
Chandran is a certified Airline Safety Auditor; and has carried out DG safety for multiple airlines till date. In his current role as a Program Manager for the Safety and Security team at Amazon India, he brings exactly this knowledge and experience as a subject matter expert into the organization’s security and compliance arena. Shares Chandran, “I have had the privilege of being a part of numerous DG assignments around the globe, involving radioactive material, heavy and bulk shipments.”
Chandran’s team at Amazon ensures co-ordination with the Global Support and Communication Centres (GSCC), and regional security. His team also supports the loss prevention division, and works closely with operations teams to achieve better safety and security. “I assist with investigations and in detecting frauds and/or fraudulent practices to ensure better shrink management, while ensuring that Hazmat rules and regulation compliances are maintained,” says Chandran.
This Hazmat expert finds his daily inspiration from Amazon’s leadership principles of customer obsession and dive deep, “But what I really love about my work is the opportunity to create new processes and procedures that can have a positive business impact. My work requires me to constantly innovate, invent and simplify. I think I can proudly say that my organization is probably the only one, where everyone is a manager and every day is still day 1. Over here, everyone can project their ideas and innovative concepts to the business, and be confident of being given a fair hearing.”
Not only does he love his work at Amazon, but is also happy that it allows him opportunities to pursue his other interests in life. “I love writing and fitness exercises, so much so that I’ve also written fitness articles that have been published in various magazines. Over the last 10 years, I’ve helped to conduct multiple fitness events across Bangalore, other parts of Karnataka, as well as the country.”
