Openings and New Hires at Thumbtack, Polar, and Yodle

Every two weeks, Geoff Michener covers some of the latest job changes taking place in this dynamic industry. Please send him a message via LinkedIn if you’d like to share any job changes. (Plus, scroll down for jobs on offer now.)

Changed jobs, or have one to list? Click here to send us tips!

Bing Executive Departs
Long-time Bing executive Duane Forrester is leaving after eight years at the company. A familiar and highly visible face in the industry, Forrester ran Bing’s webmaster outreach for several years for Microsoft. He plans to start his own company but details on the type of venture are limited. Forrester is another in a series of high-profile departures from Microsoft; this week, Joe Belfiore, Microsoft’s vice president of operating systems, announced he was taking a year off to sail around the world with his family.

Leadership Hires At Thumbtack
Thumbtack has hired Servas Tholen as CFO and Katie Biber as general counsel. Before joining Thumbtack, Tholen was CFO at Elance/oDesk (now Upwork) and Biber was senior counsel at Airbnb. Thumbtack recently joined the unicorn club, raising $250 million at a $1.25 billion valuation as the on-demand economy continues to find favor with venture capitalists.

Polar Hires Seasoned Entrepreneur to Lead International Expansion
Polar has hired former Google leader Tom Jenen as president of international. He launched and sold Admeld to Google in 2011 and stayed on at Google for several years leading marketplace development for Northern Europe. Capitalizing on this experience, Jenen will lead global expansion for the Toronto-based digital advertising platform. Polar’s international expansion, presumably with an eye toward Europe, comes at a time when European ad-tech players are looking to expand to the North American market.

Executive Hire at Yodle
Yodle, the comprehensive marketing platform for small businesses, has hired Steven Power as president of its Brand Networks business. Power will be responsible for growing Yodle’s products with multi-location networks. Prior to Yodle, Power was president of Bigcommerce and chief sales officer at ReachLocal. There’s a lot at stake in this hotly contested space, with a growing array of competitors vying to provide comprehensive solutions to both SMBs and multi-location national brands.

BazaarVoice Expands Talent Acquisition
Rockfish corporate development director Patrick Kent has joined BazaarVoice as senior product manager. Kent led several digital initiatives at Rockfish including for the Republican National Committee.

***

Looking for a new job? Here are some openings…

Alignable is hiring for several jobs, including head of marketing.

Booker has an opening for a director of PR, brand, and communications. The company is also hiring in customer experience, operations, QA, sales, and technology.

Button is looking for its first marketing executive.

ironSource is seeking a head of front-end development. The company has many other engineering jobs available.

LocalVox is hiring for a product manager, manager of content services, and content editors. Apply online at the company’s careers page.

Polar is seeking a publisher services account specialist.

ReachLocal is hiring digital marketing consultants across its North American footprint. Here’s a representative opening in New York.

Rentrak is looking for a research analyst.

ShopKeep has an opening for a senior product manager.

Swipely is looking for a product marketing manager.

Changed jobs or have one to list? Let us know!

Geoffrey Michener is the co-founder of ProspectWise and head of agency relations at Matchcraft. “Movers & Shakers” is published biweekly.