Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ: UPWK) named Patrick Hedren as VP, global head of public policy and government relations. Hedren joins Upwork from the National Association of Manufacturers, an industry group where he held leadership roles including as deputy general counsel and VP. Prior to that, Hedren was senior counsel in GE’s government affairs and policy group.
Staffing provider Onward Search promoted Eliana Hassen to CEO. Hassen had previously served as group president of Onward Search and has 20 years of experience. She held several leadership roles prior to joining Onward Search, including as senior VP of strategy sales and operations for Crews Control, a media and video crewing service company, and was CEO and managing partner at Redda Group, a consulting firm. Hassen had also previously served as VP of strategic solutions for Williams Lea Tag Worldwide, a business process outsourcing firm.
Vernovis, a staffing firm with offices in Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, announced that Dave Buffenbarger has joined the firm as CFO. Buffenbarger had previously served as CFO at healthcare staffing provider TaleMed LLC (now acquired by Triage Staffing). Buggenbarger will work closely with Jason Skidmore, Vernovis’ co-founder and CEO, as well as Krista Lewis, VP of finance.
Paul Lloyd, co-founder of iWorkGlobal (now part of Velocity Global), is joining GreenLight.ai, a worker classification and payroll platform that operates in 23 countries.
Staffing provider Jobcase announced that Valerie Jarrett, former White House senior advisor, has joined the company as an advisor. Jarrett currently serves as CEO of the Barack Obama Foundation. In addition, Leighanne Levensaler, a former Workday executive, has joined Jobcase’s board.
Executive search firm Christian & Timbers named Pravesh Mehra as president and chief operating officer. Mehra is based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has nearly 20 years of business and technology experience advising CEOs and business leaders. His past experience includes having served as a partner at Ernst & Young Consulting and Capgemini. He has also been a partner in executive search at Heidrick & Struggles International Inc., Russell Reynolds and DHR Global.
CXC Global North America promoted Konner Scherry to senior global solutions manager, North America. Scherry has more than eight years of experience supporting organizations with contingent workforce management, employer of record, agency of record and compliance solutions. In addition, CXC Global Group appointed Luke Farbotko as global solutions lead. Farbatko has more than 20 years of experience in delivering business benefits. He will be based in Melbourne, Australia.
Staffing firm Rangam appointed Lee Corless as senior VP of sales and partnerships. Corless supports workplace neurodiversity and will work to promote Rangam’s SourceAbled brand — a staffing business line focused on helping those with autism land jobs — in Europe and Asia Pacific.
Jobs website Indeed hired Svenja Gudell as chief economist to lead Indeed Hiring Lab. Gudell comes to Indeed from Zillow, where she worked for 10 years most recently as chief economist. Gudell also served on the board of the National Association for Business Economics. She has a doctorate in Economics. Gudell succeeds Jed Kolko, who has been nominated for Under Secretary for Commerce for Economic Affairs at the Department of Commerce. Kolko has led the Indeed Hiring Lab since 2016.