Technology Leader to Drive International Expansion and Product Innovation at Employee Engagement Platform Company
Achievers, an industry-leading employee engagement solution provider, today announced Jeff Cates has joined as CEO and president. Most recently president and CEO of Intuit Canada ULC, Cates brings a depth of management and corporate experience, specifically in marketing, product leadership and entrepreneurship. At Achievers, he will lead the company’s growth and market strategy, including its international expansion.
Cates joins Achievers at a time of strong momentum, having added a significant number of new customers from around the globe to its roster including Advance America, Bluegreen Vacations, Bridgestone EMEA and Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA. The company was also recently recognized for its continued product innovation, which gained two gold medal wins in Brandon Hall Group’s Excellence in Technology Awards.
“Jeff Cates is a talented, visionary leader,” said Talbott Roche, CEO and President of Blackhawk Network, which acquired Achievers in 2015. “There is tremendous alignment between Jeff’s passion for company culture and Achievers mission as an organization. His experience will be a great complement to Achievers existing leadership team, and help the company build on the momentum it has already attained and drive continued innovation in the employee engagement market.”
Cates has driven growth and product leadership at some of the most respected brands globally. As president and CEO of Intuit Canada ULC, he helped grow brands such as TurboTax and QuickBooks to be industry leaders, expanded product lines and helped oversee the company’s transformation to become a global SaaS platform. Under Cates’ leadership, Intuit placed on the Great Place to Work® “Best Workplaces™ in Canada” list for seven years, and in the top 10 on the list six of those years. In addition to leadership roles in Canada and the US, Jeff played an instrumental role in helping Intuit expand internationally, with operations now in the UK, Australia, Brazil, India and France.
Earlier in his career, he led Apple Canada’s enterprise business as General Business Division Manager and led Hewlett-Packard’s consumer division as Vice President. Cates is a supporter of the startup community and currently sits on the Board of Start-Up Canada as well as Cuso International, a not-for-profit that works to eradicate poverty and inequality in developing countries. He earned an MBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McMaster University.
“I’m passionate about creating environments where employees can do the best work of their lives and am incredibly excited to join a company whose technology and mission supports that,” said Cates. “Achievers is a dynamic company whose technology brings exactly the kind of connectivity today’s organizations need. It’s inspiring to join such a great team and company that truly gets how critical workplace culture is to business success.”
About Blackhawk Network
Blackhawk Network delivers branded payment programs to meet our partners’ business objectives. We collaborate with our partners to innovate, translating market trends in branded payments to increase reach, loyalty and revenue. With a presence in over 26 countries, we reliably execute branded payment programs in over 100 countries worldwide. Join us as we shape the future of global branded payments.
Blackhawk is headquartered in Pleasanton, California. For more information, please visit blackhawknetwork.com.
