FireEye Chief Marketing Officer Departs For New Role Outside Security Industry

FireEye's chief marketing officer, Kara Wilson, is leaving the security vendor and taking a new role outside the security industry.

Wilson has led marketing at FireEye since September 2013, when she joined the company from Okta, where she was also chief marketing officer. Prior to that, she held the CMO position at SAP Cloud and Success Factors.

A FireEye spokesperson confirmed the departure in an email to CRN and confirmed that Wilson has taken a new role outside the security industry. The spokesperson credited Wilson with helping "grow FireEye marketing into a world-class global organization."

[Related: One Year Of Kevin Mandia: Partners Say FireEye Is Evolving Under New CEO, But Still Has Work To Do]

"Kara was instrumental in taking FireEye from pre-IPO to a global security company and we're excited to expand on the marketing foundation she built to tell the next chapter of the FireEye story," the spokesperson said.

Wilson's role has been filled in the interim by Vice President of Global Communications Vitor DeSouza. The spokesperson said DeSouza has worked closely with Wilson for the past four years and Wilson helped "position the department for the best possible transition" before leaving the company a few weeks ago. DeSouza has changed his position on LinkedIn to senior vice president of global marketing.

CRN reached out to Wilson directly for comment but did not receive a reply.

Wilson's departure also comes as FireEye looks to revamp the messaging around its security solutions. The Milpitas, Calif.-based company has been working for the past year to revamp multiple areas of its business, including its channel approach, product portfolio and profitability model.

FireEye partners told CRN that messaging and marketing is a key area the company needs to focus on going forward. One partner executive, who did not want to be named, said it is tough to lose a CMO at such a critical time for the company's brand as it looks to revamp its positon in the market. However, the executive said a fresh set of eyes could also be a win for FireEye's marketing strategy.

Wilson is the second top-level departure at FireEye so far this year, coming after the February departure of CFO Michael Berry. Berry took a role as CFO of Intel Security. FireEye also said in February that Executive Chairman Dave DeWalt had fully resigned from the company, a change the company said at the time was a "natural progression" of leadership after DeWalt stepped down as CEO the year prior.