BridgeStreet Partners Recruits Chief Information Officer for Austin Industries

April 6, 2022 – The chief information officer is considered one of the most strategic roles in any organization. Still, recruiting within the function remains challenging, as skilled C-suite IT professionals are among the toughest to find, and move. BridgeStreet Partners recently recruited Janya Kieffer as the new chief information officer of Austin Industries. Ms. Kieffer was most recently the vice president of information technology at Acme Brick, a Berkshire Hathaway company headquartered in Fort Worth, TX. Earlier in her career, she was the CIO at PrimeSource Building Products, one of the largest distributors of building materials in North America. She is a board member for the Dallas chapter of the Society for Information Management. Austin Industries is one of the nation’s largest, most diversified U.S.-based construction companies. The business provides nearly every type of civil, commercial, and industrial construction service.

BridgeStreet Partners is a boutique retained search firm founded in 2007 with locations in New York; Los Angeles; Palo Alto; Dallas; and Houston. Each managing director brings over 20 years of retained search experience all with prior industry backgrounds. Its managing directors have been CFOs, CIOs, partners in consulting, and sales and marketing executives.

Scott Williams, the firm’s co-founder, has more than 20 years of executive search experience recruiting C-level executives for clients in many industries and partners for global consultancies, public accounting, and other professional service firms. He also has 15 years of consulting experience working with clients to design and implement improved business processes along with cutting edge information technologies. He is a specialist in the professional services industry and the functional area of chief information officer search.

“Being a boutique of seasoned executive search professionals spread across the country, our operations have not drastically changed,” said Dave Westberry, a managing director at the firm. “We have always been very hands-on and highly collaborative. But, like most people, instead of conference calls and in-person interviews, we moved to video conferencing. And, we recently have moved to a new, much more dynamic database to ensure that our clients continue to receive the best service possible.”

CIO Recruiting

Over the past year, a number of organizations have turned to executive search firms to help them find top flight CIOs. Here are a few of the top assignments tracked by Hunt Scanlon Media:

Chapel Hill Solutions recently assisted in the recruitment of Mark Lauteren as the new chief information officer of Jackson Hospital in Montgomery, AL. Previously, Mr. Lauteren served as CIO for El Centro Regional Medical Center, where he led all aspects of information services and telecom to help the organization achieve their mission. Before that, he was CIO for Astria Health, where he was responsible for the leadership and management of the information services, clinical engineering, IT security/cybersecurity, project management office and telecommunications.

Irvine, CA-based search firm McDermott + Bull recently placed Drew Manning as the new chief information officer of KeyPoint Credit Union. The assignment was led by president Brandon Biegenzahn, vice president Michelle Davis, and senior executive recruiter Courtney Dorrel. “Drew is passionate about building alignment between the business units and the technology department,” said Brad Canfield, president and CEO of KeyPoint. “With our focus on building a leading-edge digital experience, his knowledge and experience will help KeyPoint grow and better service our members.”

Acertitude assisted in the placement of Julie Rafferty as chief information officer for private equity-backed Turkey Hill, the fourth largest-selling premium ice cream brand. Co-founder and managing partner Rick DeRose and principal Jessica Tvelia led the assignment. The search was completed in just 76 days. Ms. Rafferty brings a demonstrated track record working for diverse, global fast-moving consumer goods organizations. Most recently, she served as the chief information officer of Pinnacle Foods.