Our Team

Hire Velocity was founded with a vision of helping companies optimize their hiring efforts by reducing costs, saving time and hiring quality talent.  Our vision is centered on our long standing goal to be your trusted hiring partner.  We complement your internal team providing as little or as much support as you need.  Hire Velocity will speed up your hiring process while you pay less and gain quality talent.

Comprised of seasoned entrepreneurs and professional recruiters, Hire Velocity’s leadership team understands the challenges executives face as they align hiring needs with business goals.  Our collective experience of over 70 years forms the basis of our Hiring Solution Suite which is comprised of Hiring Support (people) and Hiring Tools (technology).  Our proprietary methodology and software results in greater and faster hiring success for our clients. 

Valeri Marks, CEO
Byron West, President and Founder
Matt Dawson, CFO/COO
Kurt Nielsen, Sr. Director, Service Delivery
Jill Rosenfield, Director, National Accounts

Valeri Marks

CEO
Phone: 866.550.HIRE (4473), Ext 176
Contact Valeri Marks

A seasoned executive with over 28 years of service industry experience.  Val has been CEO or President for the past 10 years of private or public companies.  Her experience spans raising funds, selling companies, integrating acquisitions and an IPO. 

She built Ameritech's Internet division from strategy to award winning ISP and Online Yellow Pages.  After SBC's (now AT&T) acquistion, she led the national Internet division with 3 million customers.  She also led 3 private technology services companies backed by Boston venture capital and private equity firms.

Valeri has an MBA, with distinction, from the University of Michigan.  She graduated, magna cum laude, from Franklin College in Franklin, IN with a degree in Math.  Valeri lives in Tampa with her husband and three children.

Byron West

President
Direct: 678.713.3202
Contact Byron West

A seasoned recruiting entrepreneur, Byron West provides the vision and leadership at Hire Velocity.  While an EVP at TMP/Monster Worldwide, Byron guided and oversaw the Talent Acquisition team, consisting of 155 recruiting professionals, each equipped with the latest search engine technology. This business unit supported all professional and permanent placement services.

Byron understands critical personnel needs within organizations and their importance to success.  As an honorably discharged member of the Navy’s Submarine Division, Byron uses his military skills to assemble efficient and effective teams.

Following his military career, Byron’s next pursuit was to build businesses with the right people as part of System One, a leading national technical placement and recruitment firm. There, he served as a Division President.  Always an advocate for efficiency and innovation, Byron demonstrates his intense desire to overcome obstacles and win for his customers.

Byron graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Civil Engineering.

Matt Dawson

COO/CFO
Direct: 866.550.HIRE (4473), Ext 173
Contact Matt Dawson

An experienced finance executive, Matt Dawson has over 12 years experience in Fortune 500, private equity, and smaller entrepreneurial companies across the business services and health care sectors.  Matt’s expertise encompasses all facets of finance and business strategy, including capital-raising activities, business valuation, turnarounds, due diligence and financial modeling.

Matt oversees Finance, Accounting, Human Resources and all administrative/back office functions for Hire Velocity.  Matt is also responsible for developing relationships with strategic partners and reviews competitive analysis.

Prior to Hire Velocity, Matt served as Managing Director for Lion Investments, a boutique investment firm.  There he oversaw a portfolio of investments in privately-held businesses, developed and analyzed deal flow, and actively participated in the day-to-day operations of the companies.

Matt spent seven years in the long-term healthcare industry with a Fortune 500 healthcare company and three years as a hospital CFO in the Tampa Bay area.  Before arriving in Tampa, he was recognized for his efforts and leadership as the youngest Director of Finance in the company’s history.

A graduate of University of Louisville with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting, Matt also holds an MBA from University of Tampa.

Kurt Nielsen

Senior Director, Service Delivery
Direct: 678.713.3201
Contact Kurt Nielsen

Kurt Nielsen brings twenty years of recruiting, sales and leadership experience to his role at Hire Velocity. He has built a career attracting talent and building strong relationships at all levels, both nationally and internationally. He began his career coaching and recruiting for the Division I soccer team at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

From there, he joined technical staffing firm System One, where he achieved the number one account manager position and served national clients such as Motorola, Ernst & Young LLP and Johnson Controls.

Kurt then held multiple leadership positions at McKesson and PricewaterhouseCoopers. At PwC, he assumed progressively responsible roles, ultimately leading a team of 20 professional recruiters supporting more than 4,000 partners and staff. This experience contributed to Kurt’s appointment as the U.S. practice leader for the Finance & Accounting and Technology divisions for Korn Ferry/Futurestep.

Kurt graduated from Merrimack College in North Andover, MA, with a Bachelors Degree in Psychology.

Jill Rosenfield

Director, National Accounts
Direct:  678.713.3203
Contact Jill Rosenfield

An experienced entrepreneur and sales professional, Jill joined Hire Velocity in early 2006.  She serves as the Director of National Accounts, developing enterprise-wide relationships and interacting extensively with C-Level decision makers at Fortune 500/Global 2000 companies.

Jill has spent 15 years in sales and marketing, specializing in the beverage industry. She began her career at the Miller Brewing Company & Better Brands and then represented Dr. Pepper/7UP brands for eight years at Southeast Atlantic Beverage.

Needing a new challenge, Jill then formed her own company, IRC Systems. She and her partner successfully introduced a cutting-edge marketing tool to the hospitality and resort industries—a virtual concierge that provides local information on ‘things to do’ covering restaurants, entertainment, shopping and more.

In 2001, IRC Systems launched a very successful pilot project in Atlanta with Lodgian Hotels. She and her partner raised over $3 million in capital and led a team of five sales people calling on local and national merchants. In 2005, the company was sold to a public Canadian company. Jill Rosenfield is a graduate of State University of New York at Buffalo.

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