Optimation founder Neil Butler is stepping down from his role as chief executive to concentrate on strategy and other parts of the business. The company will go to market for a new CEO.
“We’re undertaking a search process,” he says. “I will still be an executive director but I want to be more strategic. It’s 16 years since I set up the business.
“We’ll be adding a senior person as CEO.”
The changes coincide with the resignation of sales general manager Mark Hardy, whom Butler says is moving on because he doesn’t want to apply for the CEO role.
“We think that sales should now report directly to the CEO,” Butler says. “We’re disestablishing the role of general manager sales.” Hardy will go quite soon, he says.
Butler says the company will turn to board member Garth Biggs for additional input, particularly in the Auckland office. “We’ve always used him in a consulting capacity.”
Butler says he will also devote more time to governance. “We’ve got some interest in acquisition to aid our growth. This will give me more time to look at that.”
Optimation, which specialises in infrastructure and security, employs 150-200 staff, depending on contractor numbers at any given time.