Pinterest has named its first-ever chief operating officer, hiring former Google and Square executive Francoise Brougher.
According to news from CNBC, landing Brougher as the company’s COO is a big score for Pinterest, given that Brougher, who started at Google in 2005, eventually climbed the ranks at the company, eventually leading the global sales and operations teams for small business advertisers. According to CNBC, the role was similar to the one Sheryl Sandberg had at Google before leaving for Facebook.
At Square, where Brougher worked starting in 2013, she was oversaw sales, partnerships and acquisitions of clients. She was also tasked with luring small business clients Square’s way and keeping them on as customers. She was credited with playing a key role in helping the company hone in its business for an initial public offering (IPO), a source told CNBC.
In her new role as COO at Pinterest, Brougher will be in charge of managing sales, partnerships, marketing and communications, reported CNBC, which noted she will report directly to CEO Ben Silbermann and be a part of Pinterest’s executive team. Sources told CNBC that the hiring of Brougher is a major development, signaling the company could be close to launching its own IPO. Pinterest is potentially eyeing an IPO in the early to middle part of next year. If that proves true, the company will have to begin the IPO process later this year.
Brougher’s appointment comes at a time when the company’s president and business leader Tim Kendall recently departed the company. She’ll start her new position in the early part of March.
In July, Pinterest announced the hiring of two former Google executives. Jon Alferness, former VP of Product Management at Google’s Shopping and Traveling Products, joins Pinterest’s advertisement team as its new head of ad products. Meredith Guerriero, who previously served as Google’s director of Programmatic Platforms and Solutions as well as Facebook’s director of Health, Grocery and Politics, is moving into Pinterest’s head of Partnerships position.