Published on the 28/05/2014 | Written by Clare Coulson, Newsdesk
Jade Software has this week announced appointments to three new leadership roles including CFO, director of sales and director of marketing, bringing new blood into the organisation…
Managing director David Lindsay told iStart that the creation of the roles and the appointments are a result of Jade’s continued global expansion of its business into new markets and because Jade is continuing to experience significant demand for all of our products and services. He said he has set aggressive growth targets for the company across its three key lines of business (technology, solutions and logistics) and so this “additional talent” in the form of Ben O’Grady, Ana Sever and Caroline Francis will “assist in meeting these goals and more”.
“All three roles are new positions in the business and are the result of executing our growth strategy and expanding into new markets and industries,” Lindsay explained.
“The roles actually became vacant at different times, however due to our emphasis on getting the right person for the job, not only in regards to talent but also cultural fit – a process we never rush – it just so happened that Ben and Ana joined us around the same time while Caroline joined us at the end of last year,” he said.
As CFO, Ben O’Grady will lead the corporate services team and drive operational growth, maximise business performance, and contribute to product innovation and new business opportunities. He has 25 years’ experience in finance, having held senior positions at KPMG, ACC, Perpetual Group and most recently Enable Networks. He is a member of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants.
As director of sales for Australia and New Zealand, Ana Sever be responsible for leading the trans-Tasman sales team and developing and executing its sales strategy with focus on customer success. Prior to joining Jade she held senior consulting, sales and leadership roles at major New Zealand and Global IT vendors such as RHE, Datacom and Oracle.
As director of marketing, Caroline Francis has been working to translate business strategy into tangible marketing activity in New Zealand and overseas. Caroline has spent more than 17 years working in senior marketing positions for high-tech companies including EMC, VMware, AMD, Hitachi Data Systems, Datacom and 3COM.
When asked by iStart how such a large dose of new blood in the leadership team will have on the company given its reputation for having a very stable workforce of long-term employees, Lindsay said that new employees join Jade because they want to be part its established culture.
“We expect Ben, Ana and Caroline to bring enthusiasm to their roles and call on their extensive experience to help Jade grow. As a business we are always looking for ways that we can do things better, it is part of Jade’s culture, so they will be a great fit.”
