Interviews, insight & analysis on digital media & marketing

Talent Tracker: Fiora, Onfido, Freshworks Inc. and many more

Integrated marketing agency, Fiora based in Bristol and London, has announced the appointment of a new senior management team. The restructure will see changes across six senior roles within the company and the appointment of a new chief executive officer (CEO), managing director (MD) and creative director, amongst other roles. Fiora, which aims to deliver ‘Beautiful Growth’ to clients by leveraging design, data and digital solutions, works for global brands including Subway, Bathroom Village, RAC and Wessex Garages. Key changes include David Wenn, Founder, moving into a CEO role, where his main focus will be the strategic growth of Fiora and its partner companies, and Matt Rees being promoted from Planning Director to Managing Director. Completing the line-up are Mick Brigdale, who joins as Creative Director; Costas Michalia who becomes Strategy and Innovation Director; Client Services Manager, Leanne Buffery, promoted to Client Services Director; co-founder, Angela Pace moving to Client Relationships Director and Joanne Ledwidge, moving from Financial Manager to Financial Director.

Elisa Gilmartin has joined Onfido as Chief People Officer. Gilmartin is an industry veteran in the technology and financial services spaces, with over 20 years of proven experience driving human resource management across large technology enterprises, including Polycom, Monster and Dell EMC, as well as leading financial institutions including Fidelity Investments, BankBoston Securities and Bank of New England. Gilmartin has experience in scaling SaaS technology and fintech companies such as Fuze and EzeSoftware with successful growth, exits and M&A’s.

Freshworks Inc., a software company empowering the people who power business, has announced that Dennis Woodside is joining the Company’s executive leadership team as President, effective September 1, 2022. Reporting to Freshworks CEO and Founder Girish Mathrubootham in this newly created role, Woodside will be responsible for leading Freshworks’ global business operations and strategy. Woodside most recently served as president of Impossible Foods where he oversaw operations, manufacturing, supply chain, sales, marketing, HR and other functions for more than three years. Previously, he was chief operating officer of Dropbox where he was responsible for all customer-facing functions and revenue generation for four years, helping the company reach $1 billion in annual revenue.

F5 has appointed Jon McKellar as its new UKI Country Lead. McKellar joined F5 as Sales Director in 2019, having previously held Director roles at Trend Micro and Computacenter. McKellar will be tasked with supporting customers across the UK and Ireland in their digital transformation journeys and helping them to leverage the opportunities of multi-cloud application delivery. 

Druva Inc. has announced the appointment of Tom Brown as Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO). Bringing more than 15 years of experience leading human resource organizations to Druva, Brown will focus on empowering a global workforce while ensuring the organization is best positioned to support the rapidly expanding demand for SaaS-based data resiliency. Brown joins Druva from Coupa, where he was the vice president of global human resources. Brown also previously had senior international human resources roles at Automation Anywhere, eBay, and Juniper Networks. 

Pindrop has announced the appointment of Marc Diouane to the role of President and Chief Operating Officer. Diouane joins the company after serving in various successful executive leadership roles at multi-billion dollar SaaS companies, including Checkr, Zuora, and PTC. In his role at Pindrop, Diouane will oversee the company’s continued growth and development, helping play a role in go-to-market, business development, and business strategy while leveraging his extensive experience in driving revenue, creating repeatable and successful business operation plans, and hiring and retaining top talent. Prior to joining Pindrop, Diouane most recently served as Chief Business Officer at Checkr, Inc.

HR solutions company Cornerstone OnDemand is strengthening further its Executive Leadership Team as part of its mission to power the future-ready workforce. New hires include: Deepika Rayala, joining as Chief Digital and Information Officer; Carina Cortez, as Chief People Officer; and Marc Ramos as Chief Learning Officer. Additionally, within Cornerstone, Toya del Valle has moved into her new role as Chief Customer Officer.

Freepik Company, the Spanish tech company that specialises in providing high-quality visual content, has appointed Carlos Cantú, a former Twitter EMEA executive, as Chief Marketing Officer. Cantú, with over 20 years of experience in advertising and marketing, will be leading a team of 45 professionals to increase brand awareness and business penetration of Freepik Company’s products in strategic markets such as the US and Latin America. Before joining Freepik Company, Cantú worked at Twitter, first as Director of Marketing for EMEA and, before that, Head of Brand Strategy for Spanish-speaking LATAM.

B2B PR and marketing agency Skout has appointed Lee Simpson as head of technology practice, and James Weaver and Isobelle Yoxall as junior account executives to bolster its team through a period of high growth. Formerly of Fourth Day PR, Simpson joins Skout in the newly established role head of technology practice, bringing over 13 years of experience to the position. His previous background includes content strategy and execution for SaaS business’ ResponseTap and MPD Group (now Sorted). James Weaver, a journalism graduate from Staffordshire University, brings over a decade of journalism and content creation experience to Skout. Isobella Yoxall, multimedia graduate from Manchester Metropolitan University, joins Skout with an eagerness to kick off her career in PR.

Udacity, the digital talent transformation platform, is pleased to announce the addition of Sarah Reynolds (they/them) as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) to its executive leadership team. Reynolds brings over a decade of expertise in modern marketing and inclusive, people-centric digital transformation to the company as it eyes growth across enterprise and government sectors. Prior to joining Udacity, Reynolds served as interim Head of Commercial Marketing at PTC, following their success as Vice President of Enterprise Marketing.

Imagination, the Global Experience Design Company, has announced Head of Strategy for EMEA, Christophe Castagnera, is relocating to take on a newly created role as Head of Strategy for Imagination Middle East. Castagnera’s unique skill set and world-class leadership will be used to spearhead Imagination’s global presence and develop the company’s consultancy offer in this rapidly growing region of business. Castagnera will be based in Dubai with a remit including the newly expanded Riyadh and Doha offices. Having worked at Imagination since 2005, Castagnera’s move is a natural next step in his professional career. 

Fox Agency, an integrated B2B tech marketing specialist, has welcomed Phil Stott into the role of Client Strategy Director. Stott’s most recent roles were at Jaywing as Client Director and at Brass where he was Strategic Planning Director. At Fox Agency, Stott will be providing expert strategic direction across global marketing strategy, brand, content, digital campaigns and more. He’ll also be supporting across wider strategic briefs for key accounts, as well as supporting on pitches. He will be the strategic lead on key global technology and cloud consultancy accounts including Arcwide – a global IFS cloud consultancy and joint-venture between IFS & BearingPoint.