‘I Love My Job’: I’m Proud to Be Part of a Team That’s Building Technology to Change the World

Welcome to I Love My Job, the series where we hear from women who really love their jobs. In this edition, we sat down with Kimberly Murdoch, Vice President of Global Manufacturing Strategy at Axon, the global leader of connected public safety technologies.

Murdoch began her career over 20 years ago as a structural design engineer in the aerospace and defense industry. As she grew her skills, she discovered a passion for factory problem solving. “So, I took a break from work, went to business school, and learned about operations and supply chain,’’ Murdoch recalls. 

This career pivot led her across the country, from the East Coast to Arizona, and eventually to Axon. At Axon, Murdoch is “responsible for the day-to-day manufacturing of all Axon hardware products from our conducted electrical devices, aka TASER energy weapons, and their associated cartridges, to body cameras and accessories.”

But what drew her to Axon? Murdoch says that her favorite thing about the company is their mission to protect life and obsolete the bullet. This mission “is incredibly amazing,” says Murdoch. “We're building technology to change the world. We're pursuing society's safety and justice issues with our ecosystem of devices and cloud software.” As for how Axon achieves these amazing goals, Murdoch says by focusing on their six core values:

1. Be obsessed. Walk with the customer as you transform their world.

2. Aim far. Think big with a long-term view.

3. Win right. Win with integrity.

4. Own it. Commit, take action, and deliver.

5. Join forces. Act as one global team.

6. Expect candor. Deliver with respect and assume positive intent.

“You can really see those values embodied and demonstrated every day throughout the organization,” Murdoch shares. “I'm proud to work here and be part of a team that's using technology for good.”

In the video below, Murdoch tells us more about why she loves working at Axon. We also provide lightly edited highlights from the video discussion in the following article.

What do you find most exciting about your work?

The people I get to work with every day and being part of a team that transforms the piece parts and components that we get from our suppliers into the final products our customers use to protect life, capture truth and accelerate justice.

Every day in manufacturing is different. Some days run smoothly, while other days can really be full of challenges. Recently, [we had to figure out] how to navigate a pandemic and how to overcome the latest supply chain challenges and current labor market constraints. 

At the end of the day, it's about identifying issues and opportunities and problem solving to address those issues while keeping our team of employees safe and meeting the needs of our customer.

We ensure Axon’s life-saving technology can be manufactured reliably and consistently to get everyone home safe.

How would you describe the culture at Axon?

Agile and results-oriented, with a bias for action.

Axon is an accomplished and established company in our industry, yet it still feels like a startup. That startup feeling allows us to move quickly. After being in the aerospace industry for so many years, I was accustomed to very bureaucratic organizations that moved slowly and were often very difficult to change. You'd commonly hear, “we can't do that.” 

At Axon, we value innovative problem solving. We empower our teams to take action. We truly join forces across the organization to achieve results, and ultimately, we treat setbacks as opportunities to learn and do better the next time. 

How does Axon support you?

I feel supported by Axon because of the many resources available to us from day one. For new hires, for example, we offer a mentoring program called Yoda: Your Onboarding Directional Advisor. This is a buddy system pairing new employees with experienced employees to help navigate the organization. It really provides a resource for those new employees to ask informal questions that they may not feel comfortable asking their manager. This really helps ensure a smooth transition to Axon and enables our new hires to quickly succeed in their roles. 

We also have six diversity and inclusion groups that are pathways for our employees to engage in various justice, equity, diversity and inclusion work at Axon. They really foster belonging and provide opportunities for professional development in a really safe environment. Axon also provides LinkedIn Learning to help employees gain new skills to advance our careers or provide a refresher on relevant topics.

 And, from a work-life balance perspective, Axon really puts humans first and encourages employees to care for their whole selves. We have many health resources available, ranging from discounted gym memberships to mental wellness programs. We support a hybrid work environment with flexible work arrangements available for many employees. Axon also recognizes time off as really critical to refresh and recharge. So, we have unlimited paid time off for salaried employees, and quiet weeks to encourage teams to really unplug without having the lingering anxiety of missing meetings or a growing backlog of work while you're off enjoying vacation.

What advice would you give women looking to work at Axon?

If you are interested, then just do it. Axon is an organization where the playing field is truly equal, and we're seeing women take on leadership roles in various departments that are traditionally known as male-dominated.

We really have the support and autonomy to act as change agents across our organization… I'd encourage women not to be their own personal opportunity blockers. Go for the promotion, apply for the job. You'll be great. And, put your own personal spin on any opportunity you take on.

Interested in joining the Axon team? They’re hiring! Click the link below to browse opportunities.

Fairygodboss is proud to work with Axon. Find a job there today!

Check out other posts in the ‘I Love My Job’ series:

• ‘I Love My Job’: 31 Years of Personal and Professional Growth Opportunities at My Dream Company
• ‘I Love My Job’: Making a Difference at ‘One of the Most Inclusive and Thoughtful Companies’
• ‘I Love My Job’: I’m Empowered to Use Design to Innovate, Help Others and Evolve My Company
• ‘I Love My Job’: ‘The Art of Push and Pull’ — A Culture Anchored Around Teamwork and Collaboration
• ‘I Love My Job’: Creating a Culture of Trust, Growing Leadership, and Maintaining Work-Life Harmony