San Diego-based search marketing firm Covario has named Claire Long its CFO and COO, says Covario CEO Russ Mann.
Most recently, Long was CFO of the San Diego Union Tribune. She was hired, in part, because of her experience with media and web analytics, as well as her experience working at public companies, he says.
Long was also the CFO of Visual Sciences, which was formerly WebSideStory, where she managed the company’s acquisition by Omniture, Mann says. “She will handle finance, HR, IT, marketing, legal, and will help align the operation of Covario and Rio SEO, our software group,” he says.
Mann says Covario did not rely on a recruiter to fill the position and had himself been courting Long to work at Covario for more than three years. “I could have recruited from across the country,” he says. “I was excited to find Claire when we started looking.”
“While I couldn’t originally court her three or four years ago, we finally grew to the right size and scale to bring her on board,” he says. Covario currently has 200 worldwide employees, he says.
At Covario, Long will have five or six employees who report directly to her. Long will report directly to Mann, he says.
