Vision Critical CEO Ross Wainwright | Submitted

What happened: Vancouver-founded Vision Critical has named Ross Wainwright as its new CEO

Why it matters: The leadership change also means the company is moving its head office to Toronto

One of Vancouver’s biggest employers in the tech sector is shaking up its leadership team and moving its head office to Toronto.

Vision Critical Communications Inc. announced December 3 Ross Wainwright has replaced Scott Miller as CEO of the company known for specializing in collecting and analyzing customer experience data.

Wainwright, who put in his first day on December 2, will be joined next month in the C-suite by the new president of products, Riaz Raihan.

A company spokeswoman told Business in Vancouver that transitioning the headquarters to Toronto was based on the fact both Wainwright and Raihan will be based there.

Both executives originally hail from Toronto.

Vancouver will otherwise remain a key development hub for the company, where about 260 of its workers are based.

“I am delighted to return to my roots and lead a Canadian technology company to its next level of excellence,” Wainwright, who previously served as CEO of Dimension Data/NTT’s Americas division, said in a statement.

“I am confident that Vision Critical, with its long-standing track record in delivering proactive customer insights, has an exciting future ahead and I look forward to working closely with our talented team to drive innovation for our customers.”

The company has had some bumps in the road with leadership over the years.

Co-founder and pollster Angus Reid, who stepped down as executive chairman in 2014 following disputes with the board, eventually sold his remaining stake in the company for $44 million in 2017.

Co-founder Andrew Reid — Angus Reid’s son — had served as CEO until 2012, when he took on the role of chief product officer and was replaced by then-COO Scott Miller.

Reid the elder went on to launch the Angus Reid Institute in 2014 while Reid the younger now serves as CEO of Vancouver-based Rival Technologies Inc, which uses chat, voice and video tools on mobile devices to gain insights into consumer behaviour.

torton@biv.com

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