Heliogen Inc. has named Christie Obiaya as its new chief executive.
Obiaya takes over at the Pasadena alternative energy company from Bill Gross, who was removed as chief executive and has resigned from the board of directors.
No explanation was given by the company for Gross’s departure.
Gross founded the company in 2013. He has typically stepped down as chief executive of companies he has started but has kept a seat on the board of directors. Other compamies Gross has founded or co-founded include Energy Vault in Westlake Village; tvScientific, a connected television adversting platform in Pasadena; and Idealab, a tech incubator also in Pasadena that has created more than 150 companies since its start in 1996.
Obiaya joined Heliogen in March 2021 as chief financial officer. In that role she worked closely with company management on commercializing its solar energy and thermal storage systems technology.
“I am honored to have the opportunity to lead the company as we bring Heliogen’s renewable energy technology to customers looking to decarbonize their operations,” Obiaya said in a statement. “I look forward to bringing together Heliogen’s exceptional talent with our industry partners, and to delivering with excellence for our customers, employees and stockholders.”
Prior to joining Heliogen, Obiaya had been head of strategy and chief financial officer for Bechtel Energy’s global energy business unit from 2017 to 2021. She also held various leadership roles at Bechtel in finance, strategy, project development, investment, and execution from 2010 to 2017, the Heliogen release said.
Prior to Bechtel, Obiaya worked on renewable energy projects in Kenya and India from 2008 to 2009. Obiaya began her career as an engineer, designing products and scaling up manufacturing processes at multinational consumer goods manufacturer Procter & Gamble Co. from 2004 to 2008, the release said.
As part of the leadership transition, Kelly Rosser has been appointed interim chief financial officer. Rosser served as Heliogen’s chief accounting officer since August 2022 and has more than 20 years of financial executive experience.
