BOSTON–Suffolk Construction announced it has hired former E*TRADE Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Lea Stendahl as its new CMO and former GE Vice President of Financial Planning and Analysis Puneet Mahajan as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
The strategic hires from these global innovation companies will help expand Suffolk’s national brand presence, position it for continued growth and support its mission to transform the construction industry.
Ms. Stendahl will be responsible for defining and implementing a strategic marketing vision that aligns with Suffolk’s exponential growth nationally. She will also be responsible for leading the transformation of the organization’s marketing function by creating and executing an integrated, diverse marketing strategy that encompasses all branding, media, communications, digital marketing and promotional strategies.
Mr. Mahajan will be responsible for establishing Suffolk’s financial and information technology goals and strategies. He will direct the day-to-day financial and administrative functions, negotiate credit agreements and re-engineer the organization’s accounting and technology systems to maximize efficiencies. Ms. Stendahl and Mr. Mahajan will be based at Suffolk Headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts and will report directly to Suffolk Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Fish.
“We are thrilled to have Lea and Puneet join the Suffolk family to help us strengthen our brand nationally and position us for long-term financial success as we continue to revolutionize our industry,” said John Fish, Chairman and CEO of Suffolk. “I am confident their strong leadership, wealth of experience with iconic innovation companies like E*TRADE and GE, and forward-thinking vision will help drive Suffolk’s brand awareness, attract the best talent, create new business opportunities and raise our profile as an industry game changer and disruptor.”
As Chief Marketing Officer at E*TRADE, Ms. Stendahl defined and drove the company’s brand and marketing initiatives through innovative communications, consumer-centric positioning and break-through campaigns to help strengthen the iconic brand and reclaim its challenger position in the market. Prior to her Chief Marketing Officer role at E*TRADE, Ms. Stendahl was a Managing Director of brand and marketing communications for TD Ameritrade, and before that she spent eight years at E*TRADE as Senior Vice President of Marketing. Ms. Stendahl’s early experience also includes marketing leadership roles with several other financial institutions.
Ms. Stendahl has earned accolades for her marketing and branding vision and leadership, and she was recently named to the 2018 AdWeek 50 which recognized her as an “indispensable executive across marketing, media and technology” who is “leading the charge and using cutting-edge technologies to blaze new trails” in marketing and branding. She earned her BA in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her MBA in marketing from The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
As Vice President of Financial Planning and Analysis at GE, Mr. Mahajan was responsible for executing a critical element of that organization’s strategic transformation by focusing on enhancing the financial planning and reporting processes to drive better alignment with strategic goals, improve transparency, and increase accountability while reducing complexity.
During this tenure at GE, Mr. Mahajan improved the quality and timeliness of investor reporting, drove synergies across industrial segment operations, managed the Treasury operations strategy and provided detailed analysis and reporting for the CEO and Board. Prior to this position at GE, Mr. Mahajan served as GE’s Chief Risk Officer, Chief Financial Officer of GE India, Chief Financial Officer of GE Capital Asia and Chief Financial Officer of GE Consumer Finance Japan. Mr. Mahajan earned his Bachelor of Commerce at Panjab University and Master of Business Administration at the GOA Institute of Management.
