ON Partners Recruits CFO for ETQ
March 20, 2023 – ON Partners’ Lenny Vairo recently helped recruit Risa Sparks as the new chief financial officer of ETQ, a provider of quality, EHS, and compliance management software in Burlington, MA. She succeeds Rick Russo who played a major role in the company’s private-equity backed growth, ultimately leading to ETQ’s acquisition by Hexagon AB last April. “I had the pleasure of previously working with Risa when we were both at enterprise software firm, Everbridge, and I saw firsthand the expertise, leadership and global mindset that she brings to her work,” said Vick Vaishnavi, CEO of ETQ. “Her commitment to excellence and ability to scale companies to help them reach their next stage of growth aligns perfectly with ETQ’s evolution. We’re confident that Risa will continue the great work that her predecessor, Rick Russo, brought to the position.”
Ms. Sparks brings more than 20 years of leadership and global experience in finance, business operations, investment strategy, and mergers and acquisitions, as well as enterprise SaaS software growth models. She was most recently SVP of strategic finance and accounting at Panorama Education, a SaaS education software firm. There, Ms. Sparks led the financial planning and analysis team, accounting, and corporate development activities.
Previously, she was vice president, M&A integration at Everbridge, a SaaS-based enterprise safety software firm, where she built and led a global department and managed the integration and value creation for several key acquisitions comprising more than $400 million of transaction value. She also held strategic finance positions with global firms such as edX, SunEdison, Chevron, and Intel.
In her new position, Ms. Sparks is responsible for ETQ’s finance, accounting, legal, and IT/business operations/security, as well as quality and compliance functions. “ETQ’s solutions are driving quality for some of the world’s largest brands and there’s incredible opportunity for ETQ to expand its reach globally and into new markets,” said Ms. Sparks. “I’m looking forward to helping the company scale and adapt to meet ever-changing customer needs and shape the next evolution in quality management.”
More than 600 customers globally, spanning industries such as pharmaceuticals, electronics, heavy industry, food and beverage, and medical devices, rely on ETQ to secure positive brand reputations, enable higher levels of customer loyalty, and enhance profitability. ETQ Reliance offers built-in best practices and powerful flexibility to drive business excellence through quality.
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ON Partners also recently placed Ms. Vaishnavi as CEO of ETQ. “I’ve had the great opportunity to serve as CEO of ETQ since 2018 and it has been a privilege and joy for me to lead this company,” said former CEO Rob Gremley. “I couldn’t be happier with Vick as the right customer-focused leader for this next phase of ETQ’s growth. He embodies the ideal mix of passion, intelligence, experience and empathy to lead ETQ to success in its next chapter.” Mr. Vaishnavi most recently served as SVP and general manager of the global critical event management (CEM) business at Everbridge, a global enterprise SaaS company. In that role, he led the company’s CEM business that included enterprise risk, smart security, and digital operations lines, which he grew from incubation stages to more than $100 million in recurring revenue, with contributions from North America and global international markets.
Top-Ranked 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. Founded in 2006, the firm’s consultants work from offices in Atlanta; Boston; Chicago; Cleveland; Dallas; Menlo Park, CA; Minneapolis, MN; San Francisco; and New York. ON Partners is one of the fastest growing search firms and this year is ranked as one of the Top 20 recruiting platforms in the nation by Hunt Scanlon Media.
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Mr. Vairo has 25-plus years in retained executive search recruiting CEO, C-level, and senior executives across a range of industry sectors including technology and enterprise, industrial, and life sciences. He has experience in private equity and public companies.
Recent Search
ON Partners has helped to place semiconductor industry veteran Mahesh Karanth as the new CFO of Achronix Semiconductor Corp., a leader in high-performance FPGAs and eFPGA IP. He will take over for Howard Brodsky, who is retiring after 16 years at Achronix. The assignment was spearheaded by Brad Westveld, the search firm’s co-founder and partner. “Mahesh is a proven operational executive with an impressive track record of delivering strong results across multiple financial disciplines and industries,” said Robert Blake, president and CEO of Achronix. “Mahesh’s success and financial expertise as a chief financial officer, especially at the critical IPO stage, combined with his outstanding leadership qualities are invaluable additions to the Achronix team as we position the company for our next phase of growth.”
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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