McDermott + Bull Recruits Chief Banking Officer for Pacific Mercantile Bank

May 13, 2020 – Irvine, CA-based search firm McDermott + Bull has placed Sean Foley as the chief banking officer of Pacific Mercantile Bancorp, the holding company of Pacific Mercantile Bank, a wholly owned banking subsidiary. The assignment was led by president Brandon Biegenzahn and vice president Michelle Davis.

Mr. Foley brings 25 years of experience leading commercial lending teams. Earlier in his career, he served as executive vice president, regional president of US Bank’s Southern California commercial banking group for 10 years. And from 2016 to 2019, he led all commercial banking for KeyBank in the Pacific Northwest. Mr. Foley earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting and business administration from the University of Pittsburgh.

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In his new position, Mr. Foley will oversee the entirety of Pacific Mercantile Bank’s revenue generating activities, including commercial banking, treasury management and asset-based lending.

Pacific Mercantile Bank is a full-service business bank with more than $1.3 billion in assets serving Southern California. It is listed as a member of the Russell 2000 Index. The bank is headquartered in Orange County and has seven locations in Southern California, in Orange, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Bernardino counties.

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 served both the permanent and interim needs of its clients. Clients include Experian, First American Financial, Fluidmaster, Kelley Blue Book, SC Fuels, Thomas James Capital Homes, Trojan Battery, Union Bank and Vizio, among others.

Mr. Biegenzahn holds dual roles as president of McDermott + Bull and chair of the firm’s financial services practice group. As president, he leads day-to-day operations as well as the strategic buildout of the team of executive search managing directors. As chair of the financial services practice group, Mr. Biegenzahn is a partner to an array of financial services firms, including investment banks, commercial banks, private banks, credit unions, asset managers, institutional investors and fintech companies.

Ms. Davis leads all internal execution strategy for the firm’s financial services practice group. With nearly 10 years of recruiting experience, she initially focused on technology leadership before transitioning into financial services.

New Officer Level Roles

A handful of new C-suite titles have been cropping up at businesses around the globe, according to leading search consultants. A recent report by Odgers Berndtson found that executives climbing the corporate ladder are in hot pursuit of titles that include the words “chief” and “officer.” Among them: chief happiness officer, chief privacy officer, chief people officer, chief digital officer, chief knowledge officer, chief customer officer, chief luminary officer, chief innovation officer and chief observance officer.

Kodak and Dell a few years ago appointed chief listeners; Facebook has chief privacy officers; Microsoft has a chief people officer; Coca-Cola has a chief quality and product integrity officer. Steve Jobs called himself chief know-all.

Here is an overview of unique officer-level positions being filled by leading recruitment firms from the Hunt Scanlon Media archives:

Greensboro, NC-based Jorgenson Consulting has helped to place Cecilia Harry as chief economic development officer for the Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC in Colorado. As chief economic development officer, Ms. Harry will lead the organization’s economic development mission to attract, expand and retain top business in Colorado Springs. She and her team will develop and implement strategies that will support local businesses to improve the local economy, recruit employers and execute workforce initiatives.

Vancouver, British Columbia-based PFM Executive Search has placed Sharat Chandra as chief project officer at Fraser Health for the Royal Columbian Hospital Redevelopment Project. Partners Allison Rzen and Shaun Carpenter are leading the assignment for the search firm. In his new role, Mr. Chandra will be responsible for leading the development, design, construction, completion and move-in of all three phases of the redevelopment project meeting all clinical, technical and operational risks and quality goals, said PFM Executive Search.

Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) has enlisted Molly Brennan and Turner Delano of Koya Leadership Partners to find a chief impact officer to lead several external-facing teams of staff focused on achieving significant human rights impact. The chief impact officer will also serve as a key liaison with others in Amnesty International, contributing to global campaigns and initiatives. The impact officer will serve on the executive team where he or she will be a thought partner for peers and advise the executive director and the board of directors on the long-term vision and strategies for the organization.

Dallas-headquartered search firm Pearson Partners International recruited Gregory Elsborg as vice president and first chief innovation officer of Dallas Area Rapid Transit. Vice president Lisa Thompson led the assignment. Mr. Elsborg brings a strong record of driving E-commerce, mobile and innovation initiatives across a variety of industries.

Toronto-based executive search firm Caldwell recruited Dinesh Goyal as chief credit officer at OneMain Financial in New York. Paul Heller, managing partner of the firm’s global financial services practice, led the assignment along with partner Rich Perkey. In his new role, Mr. Goyal is responsible for managing credit, pricing, direct mail and digital marketing, and operational analytics.