For those of you betting on IT as a key to our recovery, you’ll be happy to know that Vivek Kundra, has been reinstated this week to his post as federal CIO.In less widely covered news this week, Lumber Liquidators, a specialty retailer of hardwood flooring, has appointed Seth Levy as senior vice president of IT and chief information officer.Fran Sullivan, formerly senior director of product development and technology at Wolters Kluwer Financial Services has been promoted into the newly created CIO position. Also this week, PPL announced that James Schinski, CIO and VP of HR (a dual role that I always find particularly fascinating) for Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, will join the power utility as its CIO on March 30. James will replaced Edward Novak, who is retiring. Jeff O’Hare, who has lead IT at a number of companies, including Cendant and West Corp, is joining Selling Source, LLC, a financial services solutions provider, as CIO.ID Analytics, an on-demand identity intelligence company, appointed Jim Pathman as CIO. Jim joins ID Analytics, from the Small Business Finance Division at Lehman Brothers, where he was CIO. Russell Branzell, is part of what I believe will be a wave of CIOs joining the wonderful world of consulting over the next 12 months. Russell was most recently CIO and VP of HR (there it is again) at Poudre Valley Health System, and joins Beacon Partners, a healthcare management consulting firm. CARE USA announced the appointment of Vida Alexandria Durant as CIO. Most recently, Vida led the Global Capacity Strategies Program at Johnson & Johnson, after a wealth of a track record of service to the non-profit world including CIO spots at the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and AARP. Earlier this month, Jim Haar joined Blue Coat Systems in Sunnyvale, CA as CIO. “Despite the economic conditions, the company continues to grow,” says Jim. It’s a very cool company and I’m very pleased to be here.”And finally Charles Hunsinger, former North America CIO at Corporate Express in Broomfield Colorado, just started a new job as CIO at Musicians Friend in Oregon.So clearly, despite the market (or perhaps because of it), companies are hiring CIOs. But be warned, the average length of an executive job search is increasing, so if you plan to be on the market in the near future, start early….That’s it for this week. Thanks so much to everyone who is sending me news. Keep it coming! mheller@zrgpartners.com Martha HellerManaging Director, IT Leadership PracticeZRG Partners Related content feature We’re all becoming software CIOs — a role Red Hat CIO Jim Palermo knows well As products become more based in software, CIO roles will increasingly align with CIOs who’ve been selling software for decades, like Jim Palermo, CIO of open source solution provider Red Hat. By Martha Heller Nov 15, 2023 7 mins CIO Software Deployment Marketing feature New US CIO appointments, November 2023 Congratulations to these 'movers and shakers' recently hired or promoted into a new chief information officer role. By Martha Heller Nov 08, 2023 9 mins CIO Careers IT Leadership interview How Huber spurs innovation in a historically decentralized business With IT/OT convergence, digital technologies, and the growing importance of data, Huber CIO Dwain Wilcox leads the creation of a cross-functional, cross-business innovation engine. By Martha Heller Aug 23, 2023 6 mins CIO Enterprise Cloud Management interview CIO Ryan Snyder on the benefits of interpreting data as a layer cake Thermo Fisher Scientific CIO Ryan Snyder discusses a tiered model used to turn data into value at the $40 billion laboratory equipment and instrument maker. By Martha Heller Aug 02, 2023 8 mins CIO Data Architecture Data Governance Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe