CFOs on the Move: Week Ending August 16

Craig Connop

SME announced the hiring of Craig Connop as its new finance chief. Connop will be the non-profit association’s first CFO. He most recently was vice president of finance at Stoneridge Control Devices. Previously, Craig was the CFO and VP of Finance and IT at GKN Driveline Americas.

DiamondRock Hospitality has named Jeffrey Donnelly to lead the finance function. He takes over from Jay Johnson, who has resigned. Donnelly had been managing director of equity research at Wells Fargo Securities.

Mike Zechmeister has resigned from the top finance spot at United Natural Foods to head finance at C. H. Robinson. John Howard, senior vice president of finance and accounting, will become interim CFO.

Comcast Advertising has appointed Joel Armijo senior vice president and head of finance. Armijo was most recently finance chief at fuboTV, a sportscentric live TV streaming service. Prior to fuboTV, Armijo was the CFO of AT&T’s AdWorks.

U.K. fashion retailer Superdry named its interim chief financial officer Nick Gresham the permanent finance head. Gresham joined the company in June after former CFO Ed Barker and seven other directors resigned after the company’s founder Julian Dunkerton returned to the company.

Independent oil and natural gas company Gulfport Energy has named Quentin Hicks to the top finance spot, starting August 26. Hicks, who succeeds the departing Keri Crowell, had been CFO and treasurer at Halcón Resources.

UPS has appointed Brian Newman as CFO in the latest hiring of an outsider at a pivotal time for the shipping giant. Newman, currently executive vice president of finance and operations for PepsiCo’s Latin America region, will step into his new role on September 16, replacing Richard Peretz, who is retiring after 38 years at UPS.

Standex International has appointed Ademir Sarcevic as its next finance chief, effective September 9. He replaces Thomas DeByle, who has been promoted to chief operating officer, a newly created position. Sarcevic formerly was chief accounting officer at Pentair.

Patrick DeCourcy

Finance chief Patrick DeCourcy is retiring from Allegheny Technologies in March 2020. The company is looking for a replacement for DeCourcy, who has been CFO and senior vice president, finance, since 2013. He will remain in his current role until his successor is appointed.

Protein engineering firm Codexis has chosen Ross Taylor to head finance, starting August 19. He takes over from Gordon Sangster, who is retiring at the end of the month. Taylor had held the top finance spot at Abaxis from 2015 until its sale last year.

Samaritan Health has appointed Maxine Briggs to the top finance spot. Briggs succeedes Paul Kraeger, who ended a 38-year career at the hospital. She formerly was health system controller for St. Lawrence Health System.

EMCORE, which provides mixed-signal optics products, named Tom Minichiello to lead the finance function, effective August 26. Mark Gordon will remain interim principal financial and accounting officer until then, after which he will become director of accounting. Minichiello previously was CFO, secretary, and treasurer at Westell Technologies.