McDermott + Bull Recruits CFO for Avellino
February 17, 2021 – Irvine, CA-based search firm McDermott + Bull recently placed Cyril Allouche as treasurer and chief financial officer of Avellino in Menlo Park, CA. Managing director Jake Vander Zanden led the search along with senior executive recruiter Sara Pizarro.
Mr. Allouche brings to Avellino over 20 years of experience in finance leadership in both public and pre-IPO companies, including diagnostics and biopharmaceutical. He is a career finance executive and has spent much of his professional life in the life sciences space. Mr. Allouche has led organizations through both pre- and post-IPO environments, bringing a unique perspective to this role. Throughout his career, he has acquired experience in financial restructuring, developing teams post-IPO, and driving extremely fast growth through both organic means and acquisition.
Mr. Allouche most recently served as CFO at Dermavant Sciences and held finance leadership roles at Revance Therapeutics and CareDx. He also spent over a decade at PricewaterhouseCoopers in audit and transaction services.
“Along with Cyril’s deep and extensive experience in leading the financial operations of healthcare businesses, Avellino will continue to grow our genetic and molecular diagnostic tests pipeline and flourish as a company,” said Avellino group chairman Gene Lee. “We are excited to welcome Cyril to our leadership team. His depth of business experience across multiple industries and preparing companies for entering public markets will be a perfect complement to the scientific expertise we have fostered at Avellino.”
Mr. Allouche will lead the organization as they complete their pivot to COVID testing and begin their transformation into a world-class genetics and genomics leader. He will also be responsible for preparing the company for an eventual initial public offering.
Avellino is a platform for the effective and rapid analysis of genes associated with important medical conditions. It was the first lab in the U.S. performing commercial genetic testing for Corneal Dystrophy. Their advanced genetic diagnostics systems provide fast, safe and affordable evaluations of an individual’s genetic predisposition for specific medical conditions.
McDermott + Bull serves clients in the technology, financial services, manufacturing, biotech and life sciences, retail and professional services sectors. Since the advent of MB Interim Leaders in 2011, the firm has met both the permanent and interim needs of its clients. The firm has served a range of domestic and global mobility clients, including MNX Global Logistics, AAA, Panasonic Corp., United Pacific Industries, Hyundai Capital America, Denso, Mitsubishi Motors, Delta Electronics and SAIC Motor.
Mr. Vander Zanden is the leader of McDermott + Bull’s technology life sciences practice. He spent over 25 years as a turnaround and growth leader completing business transformations as a senior executive at companies like Allergan, Medtronic and more. Mr. Vander Zanden has lived and worked throughout Asia, Africa and Europe, and managed businesses in all the major regions of the world.
Ms. Pizarro directly supports the firm’s co-founder + managing partner, Chris Bull. In her role, she collaborates with top private and public organizations, as well as private equity firms and their operating companies. Her responsibilities include candidate research and recruiting, pipeline management and candidate flow, as well as performance feedback.
New Pressures on CFOs
Immediate concerns around cash flow, liquidity and the bottom line are taking precedence at many companies due to continued fallout from the pandemic. But there are high-value lessons emerging from the current health and economic crisis that chief financial officers should bear in mind, according to recruiters specializing in finding talent for finance functional roles.
Executive Search Review Special Issue: Financial Services Recruiting
Hunt Scanlon Media has just released our latest special issue of ESR. This time around we take an in-depth look at the challenges financial services firms are facing in their hunt for new talent.
We cover it all: How CFOs are confronting new layers of risk in the pandemic era; the rapid and dramatic change coming at the CFO; using people analytics to acquire top talent, predict performance & reduce turnover; and why banks are turning to search firms. We even provide our latest “Financial Fifty Recruiters” ranking of financial services search firms! In this special issue of ESR, Hunt Scanlon editors take an extraordinary inside look at recruiting during these unprecedented times. Click here and enjoy.
The COVID-19 crisis has thrust CFOs into the spotlight as never before, they report, while the pandemic itself has also created a business environment in which CFOs are uniquely positioned to drive business value during the recovery phase, which is expected to come in 2021 and 2022.
Too many companies today are desperate to get as much cash on their balance sheets as possible in order to ride out the storm of COVID-19, say recruiters. Bottom-line pressures are forcing many businesses to shift their forecasting strategies, explore new products and services — or even expand into alternative sales and delivery channels. The best CFOs are spearheading that effort.
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
