Jesse Proudman
IBM distinguished engineer Jesse Proudman

IBM named Blue Box CTO and founder Jesse Proudman as one of IBM’s distinguished engineers. The executive-level position means Proudman will serve as a technical consultant for the company and help shape its business decisions. IBM acquired Blue Box in June to expand Big Blue’s cloud offerings.

“The position of IBM Distinguished Engineer is used to recognize an individual with outstanding and sustained technical achievement and leadership,” distinguished engineer Brad Topol wrote in a blog post. “Anyone who knows Jesse Proudman knows he easily meets the requirements of an IBM Distinguished Engineer, most notably as a valued speaker, tireless recruiter, and technical strategist.”

The distinguished engineer role was created to let technical leaders keep their hands on products while still growing their technical expertise. As such, Proudman will retain his role as CTO of Blue Box.

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Avvo chief revenue officer Eric Dahlberg
Avvo recruited former Microsoft advertising manager Eric Dahlberg to come on as the lawyer review site’s chief revenue officer. At Seattle-based Avvo, he’ll lead the company’s sales growth efforts and provide insight for the product team while reporting to Avvo CEO Mark Britton.

“Eric brings a unique combination of sales management and proven quantitative execution to our sales and product teams,” Britton said. “Eric’s experience will help us better understand our lawyers and how we strengthen our relationships with them, but he will also help us divine the future – envisioning sales operations, products and services that help our lawyers succeed in today’s highly competitive legal market.”

At Microsoft, Dahlberg wrangled digital advertising sales and service across the software giant’s media and advertising technologies. Before that, he worked in the finance sector as assistant vice president at Putnam Investments.

Matt Compton
Simple COO Matt Compton

Simple recruited Matt Compton as the Portland-based online banking startup’s chief operating officer. He’s taking over many of the day-to-day operations as Simple grows its user base.

Compton has an extensive background of executive leadership in the Pacific Northwest. He was an executive at Yahoo before coming to Portland in 2008. There, he worked with Madrona Venture Group and eventually became CEO of ShopIgniter, a Madrona investment. That company sold to another Madrona startup, Mixpo, last year. He also joined the board of REI in 2013.

After Simple’s $117 million takeover by Madrid-based banking giant BBVA in February 2014, Simple retained much of its leadership and stayed in Portland, but added 200 employees, tripling the size of the company.

As COO of Simple, Compton wants to see the employee count triple again as the company continues to add clients. Simple says that it’s growing its current client base at 10 percent each month, which Compton plans to help keep up. He’s also currently looking for vice presidents of customer service and finance to replace founder Shamir Karkal.

Paul Louie, head of Cascadia Capital's new Los Angeles office
Paul Louie, head of Cascadia Capital’s new Los Angeles office

Cascadia Capital is opening a new Los Angeles office, which will be led by managing director Paul Louie. This follows the investment bank’s expansion to Houston in late 2014 and further expands its geographic coverage.

“Our Los Angeles office creates a dedicated local presence in a large and established market that has shown significant opportunity for the firm across the industries we serve and allows us an opportunity to better serve current and prospective clients throughout the Western United States,” said Cascadia CEO Michael Butler.

Louie is head of Cascadia’s Automotive Aftermarket practice and will continue to oversee the company’s aftermarket efforts in southern California, where there are a number of automotive companies and is the headquarters for the Specialty Equipment Market Association, an industry group.

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Socrata chief marketing officer Eric Eden

Socrata hired Eric Eden as chief marketing officer. The company provides cloud-based offerings for open government. Eden will manage Socrata’s brand and marketing as the company expands.

“We are at a critical point in our growth trajectory and attracting top talent positions us to seize the incredible opportunity ahead of us,” said Socrata CEO Kevin Merritt. “Eric’s expertise in digital strategy and marketing SaaS products will be instrumental in refining our brand as we grow. His action-oriented approach to marketing, paired with his expertise, will play an important role in enabling us to execute strategically as a company.”

Eden comes to Seattle-based Socrata from Cvent, where he served as the automated event management company senior vice president of marketing. He’s also managed marketing teams at Network Solutions, Verio and NeuStar.

carrie shelton
Fell Swoop director of business development Carrie Shelton

Fell Swoop hired Loc Vuu as director of technology. The Seattle-based design firm also named Carrie Shelton as director of business development.

“We’ve expanded on our product and communications design services to better serve our customers’ needs. Bringing on senior leadership in technology and business development enables us to support the full stack experience,” said founding principal Matt Dente. “Loc and Carrie have deep experience in critical disciplines as we scale up to handle our expanding services and client portfolio.”

Vuu previously worked with HTC as director of technology and managed the web store development for Clearwire. Shelton comes from Radius, where she served as sales director.

Eric_Newton-Media
Dexter + Chaney senior vice president of sales and marketing Eric Newton

Dexter + Chaney named Eric Newton as senior vice president of sales and marketing for the Seattle construction management software provider. Newton will oversee strategic sales and marketing initiatives, growing the user base of the company’s flagship Spectrum software.

“We’re extremely pleased to be able add Eric to our management team. He has a proven track record with construction technology and a keen understanding of the best sales and marketing practices for our industry,” said Dexter + Chaney president Norbert Orth.

Newton previously served as senior vice president of vertical markets for Comdata, which has a technology partnership with Dexter + Chaney and allowed Newton develop a strong relationship with the firm.

“My passion for work is being with a company that values its customers and works with them to help improve their business processes and bottom lines,” Newton said. “Dexter + Chaney does just that, and has always had a commitment to continuing software development.”

Head of Fjord's new Seattle office Teaque Lenahan
Head of Fjord’s new Seattle office Teaque Lenahan

Fjord is opening a new Seattle office, led by  Teaque Lenahan. Fjord, a design consultancy owned by Accenture Interactive, is currently hiring for the new Seattle office.

Lenahan has 20 years of experience in the consulting world, working with brands like Samsung, AT&T, SC Johnson and Nike. He led innovation at frogLabs and served as associate partner at gravitytank before coming to Fjord.

Fjord has already secured an undisclosed anchor client in the area and hopes to expand its portfolio in the area in coming months. Previously, Fjord has worked with Harvard Medical School, Nokia, Citibank, Philips and the NFL to create interactive and connected products.

Vertafore CIO Joe Magrady
Vertafore CIO Joe Magrady

Vertafore appointed Joe Magrady as chief information officer, a role that puts him in charge of the Bothell, Wash.-based insurance technology provider’s enterprise applications, IT, and data security teams.

Magrady previously served as vice president of IT at American Express and head of network services at Zurich Insurance. He has a background in data center consolidation, M&A strategy, IT service operations and global leadership.

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