TD Madison Recruits CTO for SCTE
December 10, 2015 – Executive search firm TD Madison & Associates has recruited Chris Bastian as the senior vice president and chief technology officer of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE).
After an extensive search into the cable and telecommunications technology industries across the country, TD Madison and SCTE determined that Mr. Bastian, a leader in the cable industry, was the ideal candidate. He brings expertise in wireless, operations, engineering, and a vast assortment of cable technologies.
Most recently, Mr. Bastian was the executive director for Comcast’s Xfinity Wireless Operations. He has also served as executive director of Network Architecture and as senior director of converged regional area network engineering for the Comcast Technology and the Comcast Network Engineering Group. Prior to these positions, he held positions in network operations and engineering with RCN and Comcast Cellular Communications.
“We were very excited to have the opportunity to work with the SCTE to find the best candidate to serve as their CTO and SVP,” said Dean Madison, TD Madison CEO. “Chris Bastian has the qualities and expertise that can help the SCTE continue to drive their visions for continued growth.”
In his new role at the SCTE and its global brand, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), Mr. Bastian will head up all areas of technology and engineering, including standardizing and operationalizing advanced technology spanning the SCTE’s Standards Program and the SCTE Engineering Committee. He will also take a leadership role with the SCTE’s Energy 2020 program.
“Harnessing the power of new services, maintaining the integrity of our networks and ensuring our customers’ security are among the objectives that will define cable’s future success,” said Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of the SCTE. “Chris Bastian’s strong record of accomplishment in those areas, his background with large and small MSOs and his leadership abilities all made him an ideal fit for our CTO position.”
“One of our goals for the SCTE is to anticipate future industry needs and to provide the technical resources operators and vendors need to achieve those objectives,” added Tony Werner, chairman of the board of directors for the SCTE, and CTO and EVP of Comcast Cable. “Chris Bastian has the industry vision, the knowledge base and the interpersonal skills to address the broad range of cable technologies, and his background in Wi-Fi, DOCSIS 3.1 and Cybersecurity will be of particular value in the years ahead.”
The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers is a non-profit professional association that provides technical leadership for the telecommunications industry and serves its members through professional development, standards, certification and information. SCTE operates globally via its International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE) brand.
Founded in 1999, TD Madison & Associates is a technology-oriented executive search firm specializing in the broadband & telecommunications industries. The firm has over three decades of experience.
Other key placements in the space include Jack Bryant as CEO of ComSonics, Lindsay Johnston as SVP of operations for the SCTE, Sabrina Calhoun as VP of engineering and operations for Bright House Networks and Joe Rostock as the chief technologist for ATIS (Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions).
Newly-named CTOs have been cropping up in a range of recent corporate hirings, from industrial giant GE to data management company NetApp to non-profits like the Museum of Modern Art — they all have named chief technology officers in the last couple of months. Even Hillary Rodham Clinton hired a longtime Google technology executive last month to serve as CTO to oversee her likely presidential campaign’s technology development.
Contributed by Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor, Hunt Scanlon Media
