Evan Craig Jones

I embarked on my career at the tender age of 17, leaving TAFE college after studying Basic Electronics. My first role was as an electronics process worker, assembler making computer peripherals for Apple II computers.

This role was just the beginning of a life journey that would become a full circle spanning over 35 years, where I ended up specialising in electronics manufacturing and design, spending a significant amount of time in electronics factories throughout Asia and even the EU. In the years that followed my electronics assembler work, I worked as an Electronics Technician, fixing electric fence energisers, A computer "Tech Support guy" for a small home computer retail chain and many jobs as a computer salesman in mail order, retail and B2B settings for various companies.

In late 1989 I took a break from the computer industry to become a Car radio salesman as a "Summer job" with my flat mate that was also from the Computer industry, To my surprise I loved it and stuck around well beyond that summer to manage that store. Whilst I was supposed to spend most of my time on the retail floor I was never far away from the work shop solving problems and that led to me being hired as a flight line Avionics Maintenance Engineer by one of my customers who at the time was the head Avionics engineer for the Victoria police air wing and was wanting to branch out on his own.

Whilst I loved this work, it did not pay as well as the car radio business and I was soon lured back. This paved the way for me to become a custom car builder and state workshop manager, building High end Car sound systems and competing in car shows that won numerous Australian and international awards as well as training the next generation of installers.

From there, I caught a lucky break. Due to my extensive experience and notoriety in the automotive/electronics industry, I was hired by a National automotive group to become their National Category Manager for Mobile Electronics, a role I then applied to the Power Tool industry as a National Category Manager for Power Garden and Power Tools for Australia's second largest Hardware retailer.

My most recent "adventure" started as a Product Manager and developed into the VP of Marketing and Product Development for a company that started out as a relatively small Mobile electronics accessory wholesale distributor that over time, became a category-dominant supplier in its field. I also managed the company's IT systems, developed its IOT Tracking platform and managed a staff of approximately 12 Engineers and managers.

This role was equivalent to a sectional General Manager's role but was renamed to be more relevant to international personnel, reflecting my extensive time spent working overseas. My success in this roll was my hands on knowledge of Electronics manufacture at a time when Chinese Manufacturing was still in its infancy. I managed the end to end process from research, design and procurement through to manufacturing hand off, quality assurance, regulatory compliance and quality control.

After 16.5 years of dedicated service, I decided to leave this role in November 2023 to first take a break and then looking for a new change where I can apply my unique blend of skills and experience in a new direction, I am excited about the opportunities that may lie ahead.