ChampionScott Partners Recruits CTO for Libertas Funding

April 25, 2022 – ChampionScott Partners, which specializes in senior-level appointments for technology and technology-enabled companies, recently helped to place James Smith as chief technology officer at Libertas Funding, a financial technology firm specializing in providing small to medium-sized businesses with fast access to capital.

Mr. Smith brings 20-plus years of product, development and operational leadership with him to Libertas Funding. He joins the firm from Hakkiri, a delivery tracking and reporting navigation system, which he co-founded and led as CEO. Prior to Hakkiri, Mr. Smith spent 16 years with Eze Software Group in development and engineering where, among many accomplishments, he led a global engineering team across the U.S., Central America, Asia-Pacific, and the U.K. comprised of more than 250 full-time employees and over 100 staff members and grew staff by 100-plus to add capacity and address technology skill-sets gaps. He began his career as a systems engineer at Raytheon.

Libertas Funding, based in Greenwich, Conn., has over 100 years of combined funding and credit expertise that allows the firm to provide clients access to optimal funding solutions to grow their businesses.

Boston-based ChampionScott Partners is an executive search firm focused on delivering leadership solutions for technology and technology-enabled companies, globally. Throughout every search the firm undertakes, it applies the strategic insights of an experienced search partner, the operating skills of an internationally expert management team, and the recruiting abilities of a premier executive search firm, according to firm.

Geoff Champion, chairman, CEO and founding partner of the firm, has lived and worked in South Korea, Germany, Holland, London and throughout the U.S. His industry experience entails working at the most senior “C” levels for large-scale and middle-market companies in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Mr. Champion has conducted board, CEO, and senior executive appointments for leading-edge companies in the digital media, business-to-business services, telecommunications, consumer, educational services, and financial technology sectors.

Chris Messing is a principal and founding member of the firm. He joined ChampionScott Partners as a senior associate partnering with technology, business services and private equity customers, and laying the foundation and implementing the firm’s research best-practices and methodologies for key client appointments. Mr. Messing helps in the development and qualification of appointed candidates for leading Fortune 1000, growth / early-stage / mid-cap, venture and private equity company clients. He executes and manages searches at the board, CEO, and senior executive levels spanning general management, sales, marketing, finance, information technology, and professional services functions.

CIOs and CTOs in High Demand

Demand for top technology executives continues to gain momentum and executive search firms have been there to meet this demand. Here is an overview of some top firms working with organizations to fill their needs for technology executives from the Hunt Scanlon archives.

San Diego, CA-headquartered executive search firm Bespoke Partners has assisted in the recruitment of Alan Matuszak as the new chief technology officer of Greenphire, a global provider of financial lifecycle management for clinical trials. Vice presidents Katelyn Quaresma and Ned Lanphier led the assignment. “We’re delighted to have Alan join our team,” said Jim Murphy, CEO of Greenphire. “Over the years, Greenphire has established itself as an innovator, market leader and trusted partner. The organization’s success is the result of our team’s deep commitment to continuous improvement and evolution.”

Irvine, CA-based search firm McDermott + Bull recently placed Bill Wied as chief technology officer at loanDepot. The assignment was completed by McDermott + Bull co-founder and managing partner Chris Bull, managing director Allen Brady, director Anne Terry and senior executive recruiter Jessica Combs. Mr. Wied is a hands-on software executive with over 30 years of experience in the payment and commerce industry. Throughout his career, he has held roles with Motorola, Bank of America and Worldplay (now FIS). Most recently, he served as senior vice president and chief technology officer of real time payments at FIS.

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.