ON Partners Recruits Chief Product Officer for Bigleaf Networks

February 9, 2023 – Today’s chief product officer is responsible for all product-related matters, and the role is growing in demand, according to executive recruiters who place them. The position typically includes product conception and development, production, innovation, and project and product management. In many IT/ telecommunications companies, the position includes release management and production. Chief product officers generally work on product strategy based on goals set by the CEO and/ or board members. The high demand for chief product officers is keeping executive search firms busy.

ON Partners John Morrow and Aaron Clark recently helped recruit David Idle as the new chief product officer for Bigleaf Networks in Beaverton, OR. “We couldn’t be happier to welcome Dave Idle to Bigleaf,” said Greg Davis, the company’s CEO. “Having spent his career at some of the biggest and most innovative networking organizations in the world, Dave brings an outside-in perspective to the value that Bigleaf extends to our customers and partners,” Mr. Davis added. “Dave is an important addition to the Bigleaf leadership team as we continue to accelerate our growth.” 

Mr. Idle joins Bigleaf from Verizon, where he was executive director for SMB products, including the commercialization of 4G and 5G technologies in the SMB and mid-markets space. Mr. Idle previously held leadership positions at Web.com, XO Communications, and Sprint, where he managed and drove profitable revenue growth through the development of new products and sales strategies.

“Bigleaf is poised to revolutionize the networking industry for countless organizations that depend on flawless network performance as a core part of their operational success.” said Mr. Idle. “I’ve been incredibly impressed by Bigleaf’s unique positioning and rapid growth in a highly dynamic market. I look forward to leveraging my experience to help Bigleaf innovate and expand into new markets and geographies.”

Bigleaf is a network optimization provider whose cloud-first SD-WAN solution enables reliable connectivity for thousands of internet-dependent businesses. Founded in 2012, the company is investor-backed and provides service across North America and Europe.

Experienced 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 was named one of the 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.

Related: ON Partners Recruits Chief Product Officer for 365 Retail Markets

Mr. Morrow has 15-plus years in executive search. He has placed over 250 senior-level executives in B2B software and B2B2C sectors. Mr. Morrow started his professional career in human resources in general management and talent acquisition.

Mr. Clark focuses on executive level sales and go to market searches. He serves VC-backed growth companies, private equity firms, and large, global organizations. Mr. Clark specializes on industries such as enterprise software, tech-enabled business services, SaaS, internet, and information services.

Placing Chief Product Officers

ON Partners partner Baillie Parker recently placed Sean Wetherell as the chief product officer of Strattam-backed Intellect, a provider of business applications, workflow management, QMS, and EHS software. Mr. Wetherell has a decorated history of building enterprise software for Fortune 500 companies in healthcare, education, and financial services. He joins Intellect from RegEd where he served as vice president of product management, creating compliance solutions for the reg-tech industry.

ON Partners’ Tim Conti and Alex Pelak recently placed Larry Yang as the new chief product officer for Phononic, a Durham, NC-based global provider of solid state cooling technology. “I’m delighted to introduce Larry Yang as Phononic’s first chief product officer,” said Tony Atti, co-founder and CEO of Phononic. “With a decorated career at some of the most recognized technology companies in the world, Larry’s track record speaks for itself. His product leadership at Phononic will help drive greater growth for the company and expand our presence further into Silicon Valley, and his passion for sustainability will help drive a continued focus on the positive environmental impact of our technology and products. We are truly excited to welcome him to the team.”

ON Partners assisted in the recruitment of former Match Group executive Andy Chen as chief product officer of Glassdoor, a provider of insights about jobs and companies. ON Partners consultants John Morrow and Jeff Hocking led the assignment. “With the future of work evolving, we have the right team in place to help us further innovate and deliver on Glassdoor’s vision of bringing deeper transparency to workplaces everywhere,” said Christian Sutherland-Wong, CEO of Glassdoor.

Related: ON Partners Assists Unison Software in Chief Technology Officer Search

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media

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