Many new CIOs to report

I am delighted to report that this week I drank from the fire hose.

In preparation for my first Movers & Shakers blog, I sent a note out to a good chunk of my CIO network and requested market insights on CIO moves.  I received information on more than 50 CIO placements across all major industries, which proves – once and for all — that there really is hiring going on out there.

Many thanks to all of you who sent me press releases and hearsay (my favorite), but be warned:  because you were so helpful, you can be certain that I will reach out again. But enough of my yakkin’ (Spinal Tap, anyone?), let’s get to it.

In October, Carol Zierhoffer left her position as CIO of Northrop Grumman’s Mission Systems Sector to the top IT spot at ITT Corporation, and in the always bizarre move from CFO to CIO, Bernie McVey was promoted from CFO of Northrop Grumman IT to the company’s global CIO.

In December, Stuart McGuigan, swapped the CIO role at Liberty Mutual for the CIO role at CVS Caremark, “to get back to healthcare and to join a company with both enormous scale and breakthrough products and services.”  He was replaced by James McGlennon who was promoted from the CIO role at Liberty Mutual’s Agency Market division.

And continuing in the wild world of retail, Karen Austin became the next in a line of CIOs to shake off the IT albatross and assume a general management role.  Earlier this month, Sears Holding Co. (parent to Sears and Kmart) named her president of its home electronics unit after she served as CIO for just over three years.  Karen was succeeded by Timothy Kasbe, formerly CIO of Reliance Retail Ltd, a startup retail chain in India that opened 978 stores in the past two years.

Newedge, a leader in global brokerage, recently announced that Stephen Davy has been named CIO for Newedge Americas and Head of Sales Technology globally.  Formerly CIO of Altria, Davy will oversee Newedge Group’s technological support of its sales and customer service activities, as well as Newedge America’s IT strategy, project oversight, team leadership and development, service and escalation. According to Steve, “I came on board to help build the brand, organization and culture of this newly merged organization.”

On January 15, Jo Hoppe left her post as CIO of Pegasystems for the CIO role at PAREXEL International and is enjoying her new role at the global biopharmaceutical services organization.

And there has been much change in the energy sector with Linda Jojo leaving Flowserve for the CIO spot at Energy Future Holdings, Lakshman Charanjiva leaving AES to replace Dennis Klinger (who is retiring) and Elizabeth Hackenson, formerly CIO of Alcatel-Lucent replacing Lakshman at AES.

Last November, Christian Anschuetz, former Americas CIO for Publicis Groupe  joined Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a product safety certification firm, IL as its global CIO.

And finally, Bob Greenberg has traded the highway for the farm. Formerly CIO of Nissan Americas, he recently joined AGCO, a large manufacturer of farm equipment, as its global CIO.

That’s it for this week!  I have many more CIO moves to report next week, so stay tuned. If you have news to share, please send it my way: mheller@zrgpartners.com  

Martha, Managing Director, IT Leadreship Practice, ZRG Partners