Staples Inc. has hired Faisal Masud as its vice president of global e-commerce, a new position. He starts his job on May 20 and reports to Demos Parneros, president of North American stores and online for the office supplies chain, which is No. 2 in the 2013 edition of the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide.

Masud comes from Groupon Inc., where last year he was hired as vice president and general manager of Groupon Goods. It sells tangible merchandise via flash sales instead of Groupon’s vouchers, and the unit drove the explosive web growth that put Groupon atop the new Top 500 Guide’s list of fastest-growing web-only retailers.

Before that, he held advisory board positions for several companies, and was general manager and head of global shipping and fulfillment for eBay Inc., a job he held from 2011 until 2012, according to his LinkedIn profile. Between 2005 and 2011, he worked for Amazon.com Inc., most recently as the e-retailer’s director of global sourcing and AmazonBasics, its line of electronics accessories, including cables, batteries and tablet cases.

Masud’s new job puts him in charge of building Staples’ digital channels, including mobile commerce. Staples has said it wants to triple the size of its e-commerce and information technology staff by 2014 as part of a general effort to focus more on the web.

“Faisal brings deep experience at some of the world’s most innovative e-commerce companies,” Parneros says. “His background managing and developing large-scale digital businesses will play an important role at Staples as we rapidly expand our product assortment and grow our online business as part of our strategic plan.”

A Groupon spokesman said late Tuesday that for now, Kal Raman, Groupon’s chief operating officer, will oversee Groupon Goods.