Alvarez & Marsal has appointed Mary Jesse a senior director based in Seattle in its Corporate Performance Improvement group.

Jesse’s extensive product engineering and development experience will help A&M’s clients effectively improve research and development (R&D) and operations in support of creating shareholder value.

“As the tech industry faces new economic headwinds, there is a growing need for improving the R&D function, SaaS operations and improving EBITDA,” said Joel O’Driscoll, managing director and leader of A&M’s Corporate Performance Improvement West Region practice.

“Mary’s distinguished profile as an operator, leading transformation efforts in product development and technology operations enables her to help our clients achieve their operational and financial goals of creating greater shareholder value.”

Prior to joining A&M, Jesse was a managing partner at Hexagon Blue, where she served as a consultant and interim C-suite executive to clients across a wide spectrum of industries. She has also held the position of CEO of Ivy, a SaaS messaging company that she founded. Her other roles include serving as the chief strategy officer with VRStudios and Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Radioframe Networks. Additionally, she was the vice president of technology Development at AT&T Wireless Services and vice president of Strategic Technology Development at McCaw Cellular Communications.