Grass Valley Announces Sales & Marketing Reorg; Rosica To Step Down as EVP

Grass Valley has announced that EVP and Chief Sales & Marketing Officer Jeff Rosica will leave the company in November as part of an overall sales and marketing reorganization effort that will result in four new executive roles: three Regional Presidents and a Chief Marketing Officer, all reporting to Alain Andreoli, President and CEO.

A long-time member of the Grass Valley team, Rosica oversaw the sale of Grass Valley to Francisco Partners in July of 2010 and spearheaded first phase of the company’s transformation into “a profitable independent company” (according to Grass Valley’s statement). Rosica will remain as a strategic advisor to the Andreoli until late November.

Under the new executive organization, Mike Oldham joins the company as Region President, Americas. In addition, Alan Wright and Andrew Sedek are both promoted to Region President EMEA and Regional President Asia Pacific respectively, and Graham Sharp, SVP of Corporate Development assumes the additional role of CMO. All four will report directly to the CEO.

“Having re-aligned our product groups and streamlined our operations it’s now all about getting closer to our customers, becoming their trusted advisors and delighting them with the Grass Valley experience,” says Andreoli. “Grass Valley is a strong global brand, with a balanced worldwide presence. We understand that customers in each region have unique needs and we want them to have a strong presence at the executive table.”

Oldham’s priority will be to drive strategic growth and the transition to Solution Selling in the Americas, including Canada and Latin America. He joins Grass Valley from FrontPoint Advisors, where he was managing director. Prior to this, he was the CEO of Omnibus Systems, which was acquired by Miranda Technologies. Before Omnibus, Oldham held COO positions with Encoda Systems, Matchlogic, and SafeRent.

Sharp, with more than 25 years of executive management experience in the media industry, will architect the go-to-market strategy, from channels through to product marketing and marketing communications, as well as ensuring a coherent model across all regional activities.

Rosica was named EVP, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer in January 2010, just before the Francisco Partners deal was approved. He previously served as SVP from 2000-2010, when Grass Valley was owned by Thomson. He was previously VP and GM at Philips Digital Video Systems before the company was acquired by Thomson in 2001.

“This is the right time for the company to realign and refocus its sales and marketing efforts” says Rosica. “I will miss the team at Grass Valley, but will continue to support and advise the company over the coming months to ensure a successful transition, and although viewing from the sidelines, I will enjoy watching the company as it continues its impressive transformation and builds on its leadership position serving the broadcast and media industry.”

Andreoli adds: “We continue to execute on our strategic vision and this reorganization is a key part of the next phase of evolution for the company. Jeff has helped enormously to get us where we are today and we appreciate his hard work and dedication to creating an independent and strong Grass Valley, as well as his contributions to our ongoing transformation. Jeff will remain a trusted advisor to me during the transition, and will always be thought of as a part of the extended Grass Valley family.”