Chris Smith

Chief Information Officer at Vail Resorts

Golden, Colorado, United States

About

Chris has been helping Vail Resorts re-imagine the mountain resort experience for millions of guests at over 40 destinations around the world since January of 2015. He currently serves as chief information officer, where he is responsible for all IT infrastructure, applications, enterprise data, information security and compliance. He also oversees program management for resort integrations and other strategic initiatives. Chris and his teams have developed several guest service innovations, including an Express Lift Ticket Pick-up process, the new My Epic mobile app, and industry-leading Mobile Pass & Lift Ticket capabilities. Prior to joining Vail Resorts in 2015, Chris was a member of the executive team at Franklin Retail Solutions, where he led the information technology and client services functions. He also held leadership roles at Staples, where he was responsible for order management and customer service technology, as well as the technology strategy for the company's various high-growth lines of business. Chris started his career as a software engineer at Corporate Express, where he enjoyed his 11 years there designing and building custom software solutions and growing as an architect and leader. Chris lives in Golden, CO with his wife and two daughters and is an avid cyclist and skier.

Experience

  • Vail Resorts (Full-time · 11 yrs 6 mos)
    • Chief Information Officer
      Mar 2024 - Present · 2 yrs 4 mos

      Responsible for all IT infrastructure, applications, enterprise data, and information security and compliance. Also oversee resort integrations and other strategic initiatives.

    • Vice President, Business Technology
      Jun 2020 - Mar 2024 · 3 yrs 10 mos

      Responsible for Vail Resorts' Mountain, Food and Beverage, Ski and Ride School, Retail, Rental, Hospitality, and Finance technology across 37+ North American resorts.

    • Senior Director, Mountain Technology
      Sep 2018 - Jun 2020 · 1 yr 10 mos

  • Vice President, Business Information Services at Franklin Retail Solutions
    Dec 2013 - Dec 2014 · 1 yr 1 mo

    Franklin Retail Solutions provides in-store merchandising, marketing and consulting for the Sports, Outdoor, Health and Fitness industries. Member of the Executive Leadership Team responsible for the Information Technology, Business Analytics, and Client Services functions. Responsible for a customer-facing Software as a Service (SaaS) offering, as well as for the development and support of internal applications and IT infrastructure. Drove the overall IT strategy and product direction for a custom field merchandising system. Site leader for the company’s Boulder, CO office.

  • Staples (Full-time · 3 yrs 11 mos)
    • Director, Order Management Systems
      Oct 2011 - Nov 2013 · 2 yrs 2 mos

      Accountable for all aspects of the Staples.com and Staples.ca order management systems including: architecture, engineering, quality assurance, dev ops, and production support functions. Also accountable for call center applications and an enterprise-wide performance engineering center of excellence. Managed executive-level relationships with business stakeholders and vendors and led a team of over 140 associates and on/off-shore contractors. Led a multi-year initiative to develop and implement a new order management system which supported $2B in ecommerce and call center sales.

    • Director, High Growth Line of Business Technology
      Jan 2010 - Oct 2011 · 1 yr 10 mos

      IT Partner for the executive leaders of Staples' high-growth lines of business including: Furniture, Facility Supplies, Print, Technology, and Promotional Products. Responsible for IT strategy and driving the implementation of key technology solutions.

  • Senior Consultant at ECommerce Systems (ECS)
    2008 - 2010 · 2 yrs

  • Development Manager (through ECS) at SquareTwo Financial
    2008 - 2010 · 2 yrs

    In this consulting engagement, I helped lead a custom development initiative for an asset management client. We built a new SOA-based web application using Oracle's ADF and SOA suite.