2011 was a great year for us here at Riviera Partners. We grew our headcount by 300+%, expanded into a new office, and most importantly, changed the lives of more than 200 engineers and executives! We watched our business evolve to serve an expanding client base and are continuing to make significant traction in the market. Riviera Partners grew in every aspect last year and we are anticipating even bigger things in 2012.
Today, Riviera Partners is pleased to announce that we have added two key additions to our team! We welcome John Simonelli into his new role as Riviera’s new Chief Operating Officer, and Jim Lambert as a Director for our growing Retained search practice.
Managing Partner Michael Morell shared his thoughts on what these strategic hires mean for the company: “We’re very excited to welcome the two of them. John and Jim bring a wealth of experience to our business and share a deep understanding of what it takes to scale a growing firm like ours. With John stepping into an executive role, his leadership and strategic vision will help us enhance our current processes and expand our focus into new strategic areas. Jim is also an excellent addition to the Rivi Team – his HR experience and understanding of effective employee management will help him make an immediate impact among our clients and candidates.”
John carries with him an impressive history of executive leadership functions within growing tech companies as well as significant leadership experience from a variety of operating companies. Prior to joining Riviera, John was a managing director at the financial consulting firm TechCFO, providing strategic, financial and operating advice to emerging growth companies. Prior to that, John held leadership positions at several companies, including; COO/CFO of Looksmart, a publicly traded online advertising company, CFO of Gap Inc. Direct, The Gap’s ecommerce division, and COO/CFO of Business.com, an online business directory and advertising firm. John also held financial roles at The Walt Disney Company and Citicorp Securities. As COO, John will assist in developing the environment and infrastructure necessary to sustain Riviera’s significant growth. Under his leadership, we will seek to expand our presence across the major tech hubs of the nation and deliver the industry-leading service and experience that our clients have come to appreciate. He will undoubtedly play an integral role in the future growth of the firm.
Jim is no stranger to the startup realm and has held several executive roles within some very well-known technology companies. Jim’s tenured experience is comprised of a variety of roles held across the human resources and operations spectrum. Prior to Riviera Partners, Jim served as the VP of Human Resources at online dating service, eHarmony. In his earlier career, Jim held executive level positions with various high-tech organizations including: RealNetworks, Interland, and MicronPC. As a Director, Jim will be responsible for leading executive searches for many of our retained clients. He will be focusing much of his attention on the development of Riviera’s growing client base. Leveraging his insight of personnel management, Jim will further build upon the personal recruiting experience that Riviera offers.
Hiring veterans of John’s and Jim’s caliber speaks to the opportunity that lies ahead for Riviera Partners. Our numbers from 2011 confirm that we are positioned as leader in the search market and foresee great things in the coming years. Please help us kickoff 2012 and join us in welcoming John and Jim to Riviera Partners.