DI People: Keurig Dr Pepper, Berkshire Biomedical, Caris Life Sciences, and More Make Moves

Across North Texas, companies are promoting and hiring people to take on leadership positions within their organizations.

Dallas Innovates covers prominent personnel moves in Dallas-Fort Worth businesses and nonprofits—from the newest startups to well-established companies. Here are the people moves tied to innovation and technology in the region.

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Keurig Dr Pepper adds to its Board

Lubomira Rochet

Frisco- and Burlington, Massachusetts- based Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. has elected Lubomira Rochet as a director to its Board.

Rochet is joining JAB Holding Company as a partner, effective June 1. She spent the last seven years at L’Oréal as its chief digital officer and a member of the executive committee, in which she led L’Oréal’s marketing and commercial transformation to a digital-first company. Prior to that, Rochet served as deputy CEO at Valtech from 2010 to 2014 and, before Valtech, she served as head of Innovation and startups in France at Microsoft.

“We are pleased to welcome Lubomira to the KDP board,” KDP Chairman and CEO Bob Gamgort said in a statement. “She is a highly accomplished consumer marketer and business leader, with leading edge expertise in digital marketing and direct to consumer selling. Lubomira brings a unique skill set and perspective that is an ideal complement to our evolution as a modern beverage company.”

Berkshire Biomedical appoints a new CEO

John Timberlake

Dallas’ Berkshire Biomedical, the digital health company behind a virtual care prescription drug delivery and management system, has named John Timberlake as its president and chief executive officer. He will serve as a member of the company’s Advisory Board.

Timberlake joins Berkshire Biomedical with more than three decades of life sciences experience, specifically in bringing products to market in the pharmaceutical and medical technology industries. Most recently, he was CEO, president, and a member of the Board of Directors for Valeritas Holdings Inc, in which he advanced from general manager to CEO, commercializing its lead product, taking the company public, and executing the sale of the company to Zealand Pharma. Prior to Valeritas, he held varying leadership roles across corporate finance and commercialization at Sanofi and its predecessor companies.

“[John’s] extensive leadership experience within the healthcare industry will be instrumental as we move towards the introduction of the COPA System, our virtual care prescription drug delivery and management solution,” Thomas M. Rouse, co-founder and chairman of the Board of Berkshire Biomedical, said in a statement. “John’s experience with early-stage team building is an excellent fit for Berkshire at this stage of our growth. John’s in-depth industry knowledge and network will be particularly important as we continue work to identify and execute collaborations with strategic partners and we transition from a product development company to a product marketing company.”

Caris Life Sciences expands its Board of Directors

Joseph Gilliam

Irving-based Caris Life Sciences, a leader in molecular science and artificial intelligence for precision medicine, has appointed Joseph Gilliam to its Board of Directors, bringing the total number of directors to ten.

The Caris Life Sciences Board of Directors is responsible for the overall management of the company, including guiding strategies and monitoring company performance. Gilliam is currently the CFO and SVP of Corporate Development at Glaukos Corporation. Before that, he held roles of increasing responsibility at JPMorgan over the course of a 20-year financial services career. As a managing director in the healthcare investment banking group his experience spanned mergers and acquisitions, initial and follow-on public equity offerings, bank lending, bond offerings, and other transactions for a variety of companies.

“We are pleased to welcome Joe to the Caris Board,” David D. Halbert, chairman and CEO of Caris Life Sciences, said in a statement. “Joe’s expertise in the life sciences industry, including the diagnostics and biotechnology sectors, will be helpful as we continue to advance precision medicine, accelerate corporate growth and pursue our vision to improve patient outcomes across all cancer types worldwide.”

Outmatch appoints new COO

Wilson Warmack

Dallas-based Outmatch, a talent analytics platform that touts ‘the industry’s first and only Hiring Experience Stack,’ has appointed Wilson Warmack as its chief operating officer to accelerate growth and product adoption.

Warmack brings to Outmatch more than a decade of experience in operational and financial leadership for SaaS technology companies. Most recently, he was a general manager at Idera, a developer of B2B software productivity brands, in which he was responsible for scaling its DevOps Tools business. But, throughout his career, he has acquired more than a dozen companies and restructured them to deliver growth and profitability, according to a statement.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to join such a transformative company that is making great strides in upgrading the recruitment process during a time when it’s most needed,” Warmack said in a statement. “I’m looking forward to helping Outmatch realize the full potential of the Hiring Experience Stack and scaling the company’s growth in the coming year.”

You can read more here.

Gig Wage lands a new CPO

Anna Enns

Dallas-based fintech Gig Wage has named Anna Enns, who was most recently the VP of Product, as its new Chief Product Officer.

The leadership appointment is exciting because of the much higher male-to-female ratio of CPOs, the team told us. Enns, who has been in product development and product management for ten year, has also been the principal product manager on seed and pre-seed stage startups. Enns got her start building her own product, ReadyFlight, in 2011. From there, the innovator joined startups and served as VP of Ops for a dev shop, seeing two products she built make it to Series A funding.

“Anna is quite simply one of the brightest minds in product I’ve come across,” Gig Wage CEO Craig J. Lewis said. “She architected our platform with a precision and nuance that continues to wow our customers, and her vision for where we take our products and product team are unparalleled. She’s the only person I can see and have ever seen leading the charge for our technology. We are fortunate to have such a world-class talent.”

DLA Piper makes partnership promotions

James Bookhout

Global law firm DLA Piper has promoted 44 lawyers to its partnership across 33 different offices in 17 countries. In Dallas, that includes James Bookhout.

In the firm’s Litigation, Arbitration and Investigations practice, Bookhout focuses on complex commercial, technology, and real estate litigation. His experience encompasses cases in both federal and state court through all phases of trial, including discovery, motion practice, mediation, and trial preparation. He has represented clients in all types of cases, from contractual disputes to bet-the-company litigation.

Additionally, Bookhout has extensive experience advising his clients regarding data privacy laws, including data breach notifications and similar requirements in the United States, the European Union, and around the world. He previously served as a legal extern to The Honorable Judge A. Joe Fish of the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

UNT names vice president for finance and administration and CFO

Clayton Gibson

The University of North Texas in Denton has selected Clayton Gibson, a licensed CPA with a history of driving transformation through the engagement of teams and technology, to oversee its finance and administration, effective June 7.

Gibson replaces Bob Brown, who is retiring May 7 after seven years as UNT’s chief financial officer. He will oversee the development and execution of UNT’s budget, while also supporting its academic and research mission by providing quality financial, business, and administrative services to all of the university’s divisions. He joins the university from Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, Alabama, where he served as senior vice president for finance and administration.

“As UNT continues its efforts to provide better affordability and access for all students, it is crucial our chief financial officer possesses a student-first mindset and works collaboratively with colleagues across the university to achieve our strategic goals,” President Neal Smatresk said in a news release. “Clayton is a rising star in higher education finance, and I believe UNT’s momentum will benefit from his fiscal acumen, compassionate supervision and ability to focus on process improvement.”

Steward Health Care hires a new communications head

Jen Crichton

Dallas’ Steward Health Care, a physician-owned private for-profit healthcare network, has appointed Jen Crichton as its VP of communications.

Crichton started at the company in March. In her new role, she will lead all communications, including internal, corporate reputation, and brand comms. Before that, she was a communications director at PepsiCo, and also had stints at Zeno Group, Edelman, and Weber Shandwick.

“We are literally owned by physicians, so that means every doctor is personally invested in the health of our patients, but it also empowers our staff to make the best decisions that are always going to be for the patients and for care vs the pocketbook,” Crichton said. “So we are establishing that proactive narrative across external and internal audiences.”

Lockstep adds a Dallas native to its team

Seattle-based Lockstep, the world’s first connected accounting cloud, has named Melissa Hendrick as its EVP of Marketing.

Hendrick is an industry veteran who will promote the vision and expansion initiatives of Lockstep in her new role. She lives in Dallas and will be working remotely for Lockstep.

As the newest member of the executive team, Hendrick will spearhead global customer acquisition through direct and partner channels to fuel the next wave of growth. Hendrick joins Lockstep as the former CMO of TeamSuport, a B2B customer support solution. Prior to that, she served as VP of Marketing at Yooz, the intelligent cloud-based AP automation solution.

Tappit names a CFO

U.K.-founded cashless payment tech startup Tappit, which is planting its U.S. roots in Plano, has a new CFO.

Jonathan Simkins most recently led the spinout of cybersecurity company Appgate from Cyxtera Technologies. One of his first priorities? Hire more people, writes Fortune. “I don’t feel right now we have enough employees to handle the interest we’re getting and the demand for the product, which means we’re leaving out future revenue,” he says in the publication.

The privately held company provides global payment and data ecosystems for sports, events, venues, and stadiums. The startup, which competes with the likes of Apple Pay and Google Pay, currently has less than 20 U.S. employees with multiple jobs listed on LinkedIn. The new CFO is bullish on the product: “I’ll put it this way, I took this job when I saw the data product. It blew me away,” he says in Fortune.

NTT DATA expands its innovation team

North Texas-based NTT DATA announced that it’s bringing health equity thoughtleader Michael Petersen onto the team as its new chief clinical innovation officer.

Peterson is expected to help the Plano-headquartered company develop the agenda and lead discussions around product and service design, technology access, and more to address inequities and deliver on services to improve health justice, per a statement. By bringing Petersen onto its growing healthcare consulting leadership team, NTT DATA is able to build on its commitment to better health and wellbeing.

The Richards Group gets its first culture officer

Nikki Wilson is joining The Richards Group, the Dallas-based advertising agency, as its first chief talent and culture officer.

Her addition is expected to further the firm’s commitment to a broader and more diverse workforce, while focusing on its people. Wilson will also be part of The Richards Group’s newly appointed Leadership Council. Prior to her new role, Wilson was the human resources and labor relations director at General Motors, where she worked for 18 years.

DART appoints a new leader

Since Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s Gary Thomas retired last year, the DART Board of Directors have announced its next president and CEO as Nadine Lee, who is joining the team from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (METRO).

Per D Magazine, Lee served as the chief of staff at METRO and was at the helm of its $2.1 billion Better Bus Initiative. Lee brings a plethora of experience to the role as she is also a professional engineer registered in Colorado and Kansas and previously helped develop bus rapid transit projects with the Denver Regional Transportation District. DART also recently announced a new bus network it has in the works.