Smart Wires announces new CFO and expanded leadership team

Smart Wires’ innovative technology is gaining huge traction across the world, enabling system operators to control power flows and maximize the grid’s capacity for renewables. To continue to support the strong momentum it is seeing across key markets, the company has significantly strengthened its senior leadership team over the last quarter.

Smart Wires has complemented its existing leadership capabilities through new appointments in the areas of Finance, Engineering, Manufacturing, Safety, and People. By adding to and diversifying its expertise and experience in these areas, the company is better positioned to support its growing global customer base.  

The expansion of the Senior Leadership Team follows significant growth and consolidation for the company, including the recently announced new global headquarters at North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park.

“I am delighted to welcome Julie, Shannon, Brian and Brad to the company, and congratulate Marie again on her promotion to the Chief Engineer role,” Smart Wires’ CEO Peter Wells said.

“The wealth of talent, experience and diverse perspectives these individuals bring will be extremely valuable to us as we continue to scale up our business and position Smart Wires for sustainable, rapid and profitable growth,” he said.

Julie Andrews was appointed as Chief Financial Officer to lead the company’s finance, accounting and investor relations function. Julie joins Smart Wires from Wright Medical Group N.V. where she spent eight years as Vice President Finance, Chief Accounting Officer and Senior Vice President Global Finance.

At Wright Medical, Julie successfully led the Finance function for the $1 B global business with oversight for all finance and accounting functions. Prior to joining Wright Medical, Julie spent nearly fifteen years at Medtronic in a variety of finance roles including the VP of Finance for the $3.5 B Spine and Biologics business. Her 20-year career has included leading and executing strategic initiatives including divestitures, mergers, acquisitions and business restructuring, developing high performing teams, and driving cultural transformation.

“Smart Wires is the leading power technology company in the clean tech sector,” Julie said. “I’m excited to join this exceptional global team, particularly at this crucial inflexion point for strong growth and momentum in the company’s journey. I look forward to further strengthening our market position and contributing to Smart Wires’ goal of accelerating the energy transition,” she said.

Brian Martin Snr takes on the newly created role of Senior Vice President, Health & Safety, with responsibility for the company’s overall safety program, facilities and field safety, and safety audits. Brian has had a successful 40-year career in the energy industry across onshore and offshore wind energy and oil & gas production and operations at companies including BP, BP Wind Energy and Apex Clean Energy. As a safety leader Brian is committed to developing a positive, sustainable safety culture driven by leadership, not just policies and procedures. 

“As a company we place a huge value on collaboration, seeking diverse perspectives and empowering all team members to make good decisions. This culture is key to our continued success and is reflected in everything we do as a company from recruiting to safely delivering projects,” Brian said.  

Marie Hayden was promoted to the new role of Chief Engineer, after joining Smart Wires in 2018 as Vice President, Business Development, and later, General Manager, Europe. Marie leads the engineering team in the design, development and support of Smart Wires products and solutions. After gaining extensive experience in all aspects of transmission system operation during a 25-year career at EirGrid, Marie understands the unique challenges that utilities across the world are facing.

On taking the Chief Engineer role, Marie said, “My goal is to enable the team to continue to develop safe, high-quality products, fostering an environment in which technical innovation can thrive and delivering world-leading solutions that support our customers’ needs. In this role, I also hope to inspire more women to choose engineering as a career and to embrace leadership roles in this industry.”

Brad Beard takes on the role of Senior Vice President, Manufacturing to oversee the production of Smart Wires’ unique modular power flow control devices. Brad has more than 20 years of experience in highly regulated plant and manufacturing operations with previous senior roles across the energy and healthcare sectors. Brad will leverage his hands-on experience using Six Sigma and Lean principles and techniques to drive employee engagement and achieve significant and sustainable improvements in quality, efficiency and cost performance across Smart Wires’ manufacturing activities.

Smart Wires’ Chief People Officer, Shannon Ross has spent more than a decade in Human Resources leadership roles within fast-paced, high-growth companies. She joins Smart Wires most recently from Peter Millar where she served as Vice President of Human Resources. Prior to her time at Peter Millar, Shannon spent nearly 10 years in the Life Sciences industry including time at Asensus Surgical, Biogen and GE Healthcare. Shannon manages the strategy and programs related to building, developing, and retaining an exceptional team of diverse professionals. Together with them, she is committed to cultivating Smart Wires’ unique culture that attracts and inspires the world’s most passionate talent.

The company plans to add a further 250 personnel to its US operations over the next five years. This is in addition to its current growing global workforce of more than 150 professionals spread across four continents – North America, Europe, Australia and South America.

About Smart Wires (www.smartwires.com)

Smart Wires is a global power technology company advancing the delivery of affordable, clean electricity around the world. With our innovative technology and advanced analytics, we maximize the grid’s capacity. This means more renewables, at a lower cost and with less disruption to communities and the environment. Headquartered in North Carolina, with European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland and a global workforce of 150 professionals spread across four continents, we collaborate with our customers to achieve their strategic objectives and help them face an uncertain energy future with flexible, high-impact solutions.