Daversa Partners Recruits Chief Technology Officer for Block Renovation

April 19, 2022 – Demand for top technology executives continues to gain momentum. Chief technology officer hiring, in fact, is expected to grow 18 percent by the end 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics. Daversa Partners, which helps build leadership teams for growth and venture-backed companies, recently assisted in the recruitment of Saigin Govender as the first chief technology officer of Block Renovation. Senior associate Sheila Hill led the assignment. Mr. Govender is one of the founding members to launch Amazon’s Alexa. He previously served as chief product and technology officer at Tumblr. Mr. Govender most recently led product for Meta’s AI Research efforts.

In his new role, Mr. Govender will lead Block’s product management, product design, user research, and engineering functions.

Block is a platform for the renovation industry. Its mission is to give homeowners a better way to improve the spaces they live in, and to give contractors a better way to work. The founders are former leaders at Casper, HuffPost, and Rent the Runway. Investors include New Enterprise Associates, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Obvious Ventures, Giant Ventures, and more. Block is a Series C startup, whose investors include New Enterprise Associates, Softbank Vision Fund, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Obvious Ventures, Giant Ventures, and more.

Daversa Partners, founded in 1993, builds executive teams for growth stage and venture backed companies. Its global footprint spans two continents and eight offices, giving its teams visibility into the entirety of the market. Daversa is dedicated to developing meaningful relationships with entrepreneurs, executives and investors across consumer and enterprise businesses. In addition to its primary location in Westport, Conn., the firm has offices in New York; San Francisco; Washington, D.C.; Orlando, FL; London; and Waterford, Conn. where the firm maintains a data and people analytics facility.


Mining Talent for the Crypto Revolution

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Ms. Hill has placed executives across the C-suite for some of the most disruptive companies in the tech ecosystem today, with a particular focus on the firm’s product and engineering work. She has played an integral role in expanding our tech footprint in New York, and some of her recent work includes placements at Dapper Labs, WorkFusion and Bowery Farming, to name a few. Prior to joining Daversa, Ms. Hill was working in sports public relations and media for the New York Giants and NBC Sports.

Recruiting CTOs

An assortment of executive search firms has placed CTOs in recent months. Here’s a look at a few from the Hunt Scanlon Media archives:

Skilled IT leaders are among the toughest to find. CIO Partners was recently selected by PropertySync to lead their search for the role of chief technology officer. As PropertySync’s exclusive search partner for this role, the search firm will conduct the initial review of all candidates. Located remotely in the Pacific Northwest, PropertySync’s mission is to transform the way title companies interact with their land record data and search process. The PropertySync platform was established from over 15 years of experience witnessing the repeated disappointments produced by alternative title plant software. As a result, the company was founded with the goal of creating the best real estate record management and retrieval system in existence.

 JM Search, a senior-level talent provider serving private equity investors, portfolio companies and Fortune 1000s, recently assisted in the recruitment of Gary A. Gibson as the new chief technology officer for VSBLTY Groupe Technologies Corp. He succeeded Tim Huckaby who resigned in December. Partners Bill Borkovitz and Bill Hogenauer led the assignment. “We are excited to welcome Gary to our top management team,” said Jay Hutton, co-founder and CEO of VSBLTY. “He has earned a reputation for a product development philosophy of relentless innovation and improvement on behalf of customers. Gary joins the company at a strategic time as VSBLTY is primed to expand our global footprint and advanced technology in the retail and security industries.”

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.

Related: Daversa Partners Recruits Chief People Officer for H1

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media

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