JM Search Places Head of Cyber Services at Beazley
February 18, 2022 – Increasingly, organizations of all sizes are awakening to the perils posed by cyber attacks. For years, many groups tried to ignore the problem, dismissing cybersecurity as a concern only for the biggest, most high-profile entities, be they government or corporate. These days, more groups are coming to understand how ruinous such intrusions could be. This has led to a dramatic rise in the demand for cybersecurity executives and search firms in this sector continuing to grow. JM Search, a senior-level talent provider serving private equity investors, portfolio companies and Fortune 1000s, recently placed Russ Cohen as head of cyber services at specialist insurer Beazley. He will be based in Philadelphia. Partner and co-IT executive practice leader, Ben Millrood led the assignment. “As the cyber risk landscape continues to evolve, organizations need to ensure their technology and risk management tools remain a top priority,” said Raf Sanchez, global head of cyber services at Beazley. “Beazley has continued to innovate throughout the pandemic to ensure this need is always met, despite changes to working practices and increased ransomware attacks.”
Mr. Cohen has more than 25 years of experience. He is an accomplished executive technology leader and visionary with demonstrated success in management, entrepreneurial ventures, consulting and professional sales. He joins Beazley from Chubb, where he pioneered the integration of digital servicing technologies to deliver customer threat insights. Mr. Cohen also played a key role in Chubb’s enhanced incident response and loss mitigation service offerings. Earlier in his career, he held senior roles for Omicron Consulting and McAfee.
In his new position with Beazley, Mr. Cohen will oversee risk management and incident response functions in the U.S.
Beazley is a specialist insurer with more than three decades of experience in providing clients with the highest standards of underwriting and claims service worldwide. Beazley is a market leader in specialty insurance lines, which include cyber, management liability, professional indemnity, property, marine, reinsurance, accident & life, political risk and contingency business.
Trusted Advisors
JM Search is an advisor to CEOs, investors and boards of directors in recruiting, assessing, and delivering high performance leaders and transformational leadership teams. Its clients include private equity firms and portfolio companies, venture capital-backed businesses and publicly held companies across North America. Founded in 1980, the JM Search recruiting team brings together former operating and financial executives, investors and experienced search professionals with deep industry specialization, functional expertise and proven access to talent spanning multiple industry sectors.
JM Search Forms Dedicated Cybersecurity Practice
JM Search formed a dedicated cybersecurity practice to assist public and private equity-backed companies in identifying and recruiting high-performance leaders. “Since our founding 40 years ago, JM Search has established a significant track record of partnering with companies that require transformational leadership to help drive operational efficiency, revenue growth and increased enterprise value,” said co-founder and chief executive officer John Marshall. “By formalizing this practice as a cybersecurity leadership center of excellence, we’re solidifying our longstanding commitment to helping clients remain at the forefront of security best practices and innovation amidst rapidly changing threat vectors, continued disruption, and required changes brought on by a global pandemic and the lasting consequences.”
JM Search’s dedicated cybersecurity practice assists public and private equity-backed companies in identifying and recruiting high-performance leaders. Partners Kevin Kernan and Tom Figueroa co-lead the firm’s center of excellence for cybersecurity leadership. The search firm brings a more than 40-year track record placing CEOs and C-suite leaders into industry-leading cybersecurity businesses, as well as placing chief security officers and CISOs into investor-backed and public companies across all sectors.
Mr. Millrood brings more than 35 years of IT management consulting and leadership experience, delivering solutions to clients ranging from start-up to Fortune 500 enterprises. He specializes in placing chief information officers, chief technology officers, chief data officers, chief digital officers, chief enterprise architect and chief information security officers. Mr. Millrood also has done considerable search work on SVP/VP level searches for engineering, data, architecture, infrastructure, program management, professional services and customer care. He works closely with both private equity/venture capital backed portfolio companies and public enterprise companies.
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media