PFM Executive Search Places Marketing Officer at Pattison Food Group

October 5, 2021 – PFM Executive Search has assisted in the recruitment of Peter Housley as the new chief marketing officer with Pattison Food Group in Vancouver, Canada. Partners Shaun Carpenter and Jennifer Madden led the assignment for the recruitment firm. Mr. Housley brings a wealth of experience spanning more than 30 years and multiple industries, including retail and restaurant. He joins Pattison Food Group from his most recent role as chief marketing officer with Indochino Apparel. His experience also includes running his own consulting business and serving as president of Milestones restaurants.
In his new role, Mr. Housley will provide marketing guidance and oversight to all Pattison Food Group marketing teams. With his focus on innovation, entrepreneurial spirit and outgoing personality, Mr. Housley is expected to be a strong addition, said the company.
Pattison Food Group is Canada’s second largest privately held company. Established in 1961 by Jim Pattison, the group is comprised of 545 worldwide locations including food and beverage retail and distribution, specialty packaging, advertising, magazine distribution, broadcasting, and automotive retailing. Annual sales have grown from $2.2 million to $8.4 billion. In the same period, the group’s number of employees has increased from 51 to 39,000.
PFM Executive Search, based in Vancouver, B.C., serves a wide range of industries, working with private, public and not-for-profit organizations to fill senior-level executive positions. Among the roles that the firm has recently placed include: president and chief executive officer, Provincial Health Services Authority; chief financial officer, PCI Developments and Warrington PCI Management; chief financial officer and vice president, finance and corporate, B.C. Lottery Corp.; and executive director, B.C. Civil Liberties Association.
Mr. Carpenter has been part of the PFM team since 1998. The firm said that he is known for his “aptitude in candidate development and client relations, his thorough, insightful approach gives clients confidence that their needs are being met in a professional, timely manner.” Having previously served as a human resources manager with a leading Canadian health insurance provider, he also has a strong understanding of the receiving side of search services.
Ms. Madden joined PFM in 2005 as manager of communications and business development. She has also served as a research associate, consultant and senior consultant for the firm. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of British Columbia.
Chief Marketing Officers
As business becomes more global and complex, and power shifts from producers of goods and services to consumers, the chief marketing officer’s job of planning and coordinating marketing activities has become more challenging, recruiters say. Yet executive search firms are seeing no shortage of assignments for this important C-level position.
Current business landscape demands have only increased the contribution from CMOs, according to the latest research report from Forrester and Heidrick & Struggles. The survey found that CMOs are building strong relationships with the head of product and research and development to prepare their organizations for digital disruption.
“We see CMOs moving beyond functional expertise to assume responsibility for driving overall growth within their organizations,” said Sheryl Pattek, vice president, CMO executive partner at Forrester. “They are evolving into key strategic partners on the executive team and know that collaboration with the rest of the C-suite will be instrumental to their success.”
Here’s a sampling of recent chief marketing officer searches taken from the Hunt Scanlon Media archives:
SPMB, an executive search firm that helps find transformative executives throughout Silicon Valley, has assisted in the placement of Andrew Savitz as the new chief marketing officer of Azul Systems. Dave Mullarkey led the assignment. “Andrew has a tremendous amount of experience across all aspects of marketing, and a proven track record of helping companies effectively message, drive awareness and leads, position products, create new market categories and enable high growth sales,” said Scott Sellers, co-founder, president and CEO of Azul.
CarterBaldwin Executive Search has assisted Christian Community Credit Union in the recruitment of Aaron Caid as chief marketing officer of this mission-driven credit union. “We are excited to have Aaron Caid join the Christian Community Credit Union family,” said Blair Korschun, CEO of the financial institution. “Aaron is a man of faith with vast experience in leading marketing and analytics for companies with millions of customers and accounts. He has chosen to use his talents to help us grow the credit union and to help us better serve our members.”
Following a nationwide search, New York-based retail and consumer focused executive search firm Herbert Mines Associates placed Gil Phipps as SVP and chief marketing officer of Sprouts Farmers Market in Phoenix, AZ. President Brenda Malloy led the search along with managing director Alison Weil and VP Caitlin Kenefick. “We’re extremely pleased to welcome Gil to the Sprouts team,” said Jack Sinclair, CEO of Sprouts. “The experience Gil brings will be instrumental in shaping Sprouts’ long-term strategy to build brand awareness and loyalty with our core shopper, including strengthening and defining our private label business.”
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media