Meet John Varcho: Have Retail Tech Expertise, Will Travel

Meet John Varcho: Have Retail Tech Expertise, Will Travel

 Welcome to Jumpmind Reveal, a blog series showcasing some of the talented folks we have here at Jumpmind. In today’s installment, we bring you a profile on John Varcho, a technical project director in Columbus, Ohio, who joined Jumpmind in December 2024.

How would you explain your job?

I’m a technical project director, so a big part of my job is working with customers to help develop and implement product features they need. I’m also leading Jumpmind’s foray into Level 3 support, which is our most dedicated support option. It allows our Commerce and SymmetricDS customers to reach out directly to Jumpmind after performing initial triage and information gathering. As a result, I collaborate with our developers to resolve client issues, create knowledge, and slot functionality into upcoming product releases. I work closely with our quality assurance, development, customer and product teams to ensure Jumpmind’s roadmap, products, and services are aligned with customer needs.

 What brought you to Jumpmind?

I’ve always had a passion for retail and have worked in the industry my entire career. I spent 13 years at Abercrombie & Fitch, where I had the chance to meet and work closely with many members of the Jumpmind team. I’ve also worked at PetSmart, Lands’ End and WHSmith North America overseeing various aspects of store and digital technology. I was extremely excited to get the chance to work with the Jumpmind team again, as there are a lot of incredibly talented people here. They offer the best products in the market, and the job brought me back to Ohio, where I started my career.

Do you have kids?

Just our dog, Penelope, a 75-pound Bernadoodle. The thing about Bernadoodles is they shed very little. They are a very calm and gentle breed of dog, which is perfect for us!

 What do you do for fun?

I play electric guitar and recently built a tube amplifier for it after taking a class.

I am a craft beer aficionado, and a big video gamer. I grew up gaming, and while I love today’s modern games, I prefer games where there’s a story you can get into.

I’m also tragically a Cleveland Browns fan, which means I’m usually disappointed by the end of the year.

Your retail career has taken you all across the country. How’s Ohio working for you?

I met my wife while I was at Abercrombie & Fitch, and we ended up moving to Phoenix for a role with PetSmart in 2017. We lived in Scottsdale for a while, but ultimately decided the desert wasn’t for us. We moved back to the Midwest, to Madison, Wis., a little over a year later to work at Lands’ End. I’d stayed in touch with people from Jumpmind throughout my career, so when this job opportunity came up, I jumped at the chance. It feels good to be back in Ohio.

We’ve obviously had a lot of experience moving so it’s a very well-coordinated machine at this point, but we’re looking forward to what we think will be our last and final move from our current temporary lodging to our forever home.