— Microsoft is bringing more of its Windows team under Chief Product Officer Panos Panay as part of another reorganization this year. ZDNet reports the company is moving part of the Windows engineering team out of the Azure group and into Panay’s Windows + Devices group. Microsoft declined to comment on the reorg.
The Redmond, Wash., tech giant created the new Windows + Devices group in February, tying the Windows UX and Surface teams together. Based on an internal memo obtained by ZDNet, the changes are intended to create an end-to-end servicing and shipping experience for Windows.
— Mike Ensing was named president and COO of Seattle-based digital media pioneer RealNetworks. Ensing recently served as interim CFO and was replaced in that role by Judd Lee. He succeeds Max Pellegrini, who has been president for the past seven years and will depart in September for a new opportunity in Italy.
Prior to RealNetworks, Ensing was CFO at Savers/Value Village and Knowledge Universe. He also held several finance leadership roles during eight years at Microsoft. Ensing will report to RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser, who invested $10 million into the company earlier this year as it makes a major pivot into facial recognition technology.
“Mike did a great job as our interim CFO earlier in 2020. I’m confident that he will hit the ground running in this significantly expanded permanent role” Glaser said in a statement.
— Former Amazon Web Services executive Christine Feng joined investment firm Blackstone as senior managing director. At AWS, Feng was a director of corporate development who focused on mergers and acquisitions. Feng previously held a similar role at Microsoft for six years. She will be based in San Francisco and focus on technology investing for Blackstone.
— Mike Clayville has also departed Amazon Web Services and will join online payment powerhouse Stripe as chief revenue officer. Clayville was most recently vice president of worldwide field operations at AWS and previously held executive roles at VMware and BEA Systems.
— Clean energy marketplace LevelTen Energy appointed Major Horton as CFO and Jessica Johnson as VP of customer success. Launched in 2016, the Seattle startup’s platform lets companies fund new clean energy projects without having to navigate the world of regulated utilities and power purchase agreements.
Horton previously served as CFO for tech companies AbacusNext, Nirvanix, and Rackspace Technology. Johnson originally joined the company as director of commercial delivery and now takes on an expanded role. She previously spent 16 years at Avangrid Renewables, a renewable energy utility based in Portland, Ore.
— Ken Willner, the former CEO of Seattle mobile marketing startup Zumobi, was named chief growth officer for Canadian mobile communications app TextNow. Prior to Zumobi, Willner was vice president of advertising and media at AT&T. He led Zumobi for more than a decade and will continue to be based in Seattle.
— Contract management startup Icertis added Jim Moffatt, the former CEO and vice chairman of Deloitte Consulting, to its board. Moffatt retired from Deloitte in 2018 after more than 30 years at the global consulting firm. He currently serves on several other boards including tech companies SparkCognition and Optiv.
The Bellevue, Wash.-based company also appointed investor and advisor Betsy Atkins to its board last month.
— Former Edelman EVP Kent Hollenbeck has joined Amazon as the PR lead for robotics and advance technology. Hollenbeck spent more than five years at Edelman, most recently as a member of the senior leadership team for the Pacific Northwest. He previously was an executive at Matter Communications and WE Communications.
— Kelly Hostetler, director of marketing for Seattle smart commute startup Luum, received an Emerging Leader Award from the Association for Commuter Transportation. She has worked at Luum since 2018 and previously managed the University of Washington’s undergraduate Community, Environment and Planning major.
