ON Partners Assists Unison Software in Chief Technology Officer Search

October 21, 2021 – Executive search firm ON Partners has assisted in the placement of Monica Nicolau as the new chief technology officer of Unison Software. Leading the assignment for ON Partners were consultants Matt Mooney and Sean Cantarella. Ms. Nicolau is an accomplished senior technology leader with more than 20 years of experience in building scalable enterprise software products across multiple industries. ON Partners said she is “results-oriented, customer-focused and has a bias for innovation.” Prior to Unison, Ms. Nicolau held various positions in the hospitality and education industries including as CTO at Sylvan Learning where she led the organization’s successful digital transformation.

In her new role, Ms. Nicolau she oversees product and technology operations groups and provides strategic technology leadership across Unison. She will apply her technology expertise and business acumen to continue Unison’s success in enabling acquisition, contract, and grants professionals at federal agencies to make effective, data-driven decisions.

Unison’s secure cloud and on-premise software, marketplace, and information products support more than 200,000 users in leading prime contractors, all cabinet-level agencies, and major DoD programs. All software development and support are provided within the USA. For more than 30 years, Unison has continually advanced software and insight solutions to help customers efficiently achieve their missions. Unison is headquartered in Dulles, VA, with offices in Tysons Corner, VA and San Diego, CA.

Veteran Recruiters

With a primary focus on technology, consumer, industrial and the life science sectors, ON Partners recruits C-level and board talent for public and private companies, as well as venture capital and private equity firms. In 2020, ON Partners was named for the seventh consecutive year named to Inc. magazine’s Inc. 5000 ranking of the fastest-growing U.S. companies. Founded in 2006, the firm’s consultants work from offices in Atlanta; Boston; Chicago; Cleveland; Dallas; Menlo Park, CA; Minneapolis, MN; and San Francisco and New York. ON Partners was also named of the one fastest growing search firms this year by Hunt Scanlon Media. The firm is now ranked as one of the 20 largest search firms in the nation.

Mr. Mooney, based in Atlanta, has more than 25 years experience in executive search. He has placed over 400 executives in C-level, general management and board leadership positions across his consulting career. The sectors he has served include technology, consumer products and services, financial and professional services, and industrial. The organizations he has partnered with include public, private equity, venture capital and growth equity. Mr. Mooney has helped build over 25 executive leadership teams at public and high growth organizations. Prior to ON Partners, he founded MPI EDEN, a boutique executive search firm in the global convergence market. He also spent 10 years with Russell Reynolds Associates as managing director, and head of the communications and convergence practice for the Americas.

Mr. Cantarella is responsible for research and recruitment of candidates across several industries. He joined ON Partners from Korn Ferry Futurestep where he was a recruiter and major account manager primarily working with large multinational technology companies.

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:

Russell Reynolds Associates has been called in by The Rockefeller Foundation to lead its search for a new chief technology officer. The search firm is seeking candidates with a professional record of accomplishment that reflects significant strategic partnership with and contribution to the business, including demonstrated leadership in large, complex, multi-divisional global settings. Russell Reynolds Associates is looking for candidates with a minimum of 15 years’ experience as a CTO, or similar role, for a global foundation or related industry.

Renovata & Company has recruited Mugur Tolea as chief technology officer for Blue Foundry Bank, which specializes in “craft banking” for consumers and small businesses. “Mugur brings more than 30 years of industry, technical and leadership experience to his new role, and he knows how to operate at the pace of a small- to medium-sized company,” said Mannie Gill, partner at Renovata & Company. “He will develop a technical and product vision and strategy that focuses on mid- to longer-term needs for the company—ensuring alignment with the bank’s overall business objectives.” Mr. Tolea was previously vice president of technology, search, and discoverability for Walmart eCommerce.

San Diego, CA-headquartered executive search firm Bespoke Partners has placed Atish Ghosh as the chief technology officer for Cority Software in Toronto. He replaces the retiring CTO, Stan Marsden, who worked for Cority for 28 years. Alex Bossetta led the assignment. Mr. Ghosh brings over 20 years of experience in product engineering expertise in B2B cloud-based software, products, and services to Cority. He joins the company from Neustar.