West Concord, Mass.-based technology company Divert Inc. has expanded its executive leadership team with the appointment of Bob Watkins as chief information officer.
Watkins brings over 25 years of global experience to his role at Divert, according to a news release. Throughout his career, Watkins has worked with startups to Fortune 50 companies and across a range of industries including medical devices, electronics, materials, engineering and manufacturing, the release said.
His leadership experience heading up teams across multiple functions includes information technology, supply chain, product marketing and engineering, Divert said. Most recently Watkins served as the chief business and technology officer for Triumvirate Environmental, leading the company’s IT, training and supply chain functions, the release said.
Before Triumvirate, Watkins worked as the CIO and CTO for Surgalign Spine Technologies Inc. He has also held leadership positions at Smith & Nephew, Johnson Controls, General Electric and SABIC, according to the release.
“Divert is an industry leader tackling wasted food by changing the grocery retail supply chain, mitigating harmful emissions and rethinking our energy sources,” Watkins said in the release. “I am excited to advance Divert’s already cutting-edge solutions, and work on a mission I believe in.”
Watkins joins Divert during a state of rapid growth, the release said.
The company’s headcount has increased by over 25% to over 300 in 2023. In his role as CIO, Watkins will prepare Divert to scale its 30 facilities by further digitizing Divert’s business and developing its digital wasted food platform, the release said.
“We are in a strong position to accelerate our efforts to eliminate wasted food in 2024 and Bob will be an invaluable addition given his process improvement, manufacturing, supply chain and product development experience.,” Ryan Begin, CEO and co-founder of Divert, said in the release. “Bob brings decades of experience advancing information, data, and analytics capabilities, and we look forward to him joining our leadership team.”
Watkins holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Massachusetts.
