Principle Networks hires trio to bolster senior team

Principle Networks has appointed Tom Grace, Jamie Phillips and Martin Mascarenhas to senior roles, adding leadership in solution architecture, cyber security and client management.

Grace joins the IT consultancy and managed service provider as Head of Solution Architecture, Phillips as Senior Solutions Architect and Mascarenhas as Client Director. The appointments bring in executives from Softcat, SysGroup and Xalient as Principle Networks expands its senior team.

The hires come as Principle Networks seeks to deepen its technical bench and customer-facing leadership in cyber security, Zero Trust, networking, identity and cloud services. Founded in 2018, the company works with enterprise and mid-enterprise customers on security modernisation and managed services.

Grace joins from Softcat with more than 20 years of experience across IT and telecommunications. He will lead solution architecture across technical discovery, architecture and solution design, while helping to develop the wider solutions architecture team.

His remit covers several areas where Principle Networks is expanding its expertise, including cyber security, networking, identity, cloud and secure connectivity. His background spans technical, customer-facing and solutions roles focused on turning business requirements into practical technology programmes.

Phillips joins from SysGroup, where he was Cyber Security Team Lead. At Principle Networks, he will focus on security architecture, with an emphasis on Zero Trust and digital transformation projects.

Phillips has direct experience with the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange platform and is recognised as a Zscaler Ace. That background is expected to support customers reviewing their security posture, designing security architectures and implementing Zero Trust models.

Mascarenhas joins from Xalient, where he held senior roles in enterprise business development, customer engagement and EMEA vendor partnerships. As Client Director, he will focus on long-term relationships with enterprise customers and on aligning technology spending with broader business and security goals.

His experience includes Secure Access Service Edge, Security Service Edge, Zero Trust, identity security and network security. Principle Networks also highlighted his established ties with vendors and partners including Zscaler, Okta, Cyera and Arctic Wolf.

Growth focus

The appointments offer a glimpse of where demand is concentrating for managed service providers and consultancies serving larger organisations. Businesses continue to review legacy network and security architectures as remote access, cloud adoption and identity controls reshape how corporate systems are secured.

This has increased the importance of advisory roles between product vendors and end customers, particularly in architecture design, vendor integration and managed security operations. For companies such as Principle Networks, senior hires with experience in both delivery and customer engagement can strengthen credibility with enterprise buyers.

The three recruits are intended to support organisations throughout the lifecycle of their technology investments, from assessment and design to implementation and optimisation. The appointments are also designed to reinforce strategic vendor relationships alongside customer service.

Russell Crowley, Co-CEO of Principle Networks, outlined the rationale for the hires.

"As Principle Networks continues to grow, we're focused on investing in the experience and expertise of our people. We want our customers to work with specialists who understand the complexities of enterprise IT environments, know the technologies we work with and can provide practical guidance on how customers can get the best from their investments.

Tom, Jamie and Martin each bring valuable experience in areas that are central to our business. Martin strengthens how we engage with customers, understand their priorities and build strategic relationships. Tom brings senior technical leadership to our solution architecture capability, while Jamie adds further specialist cyber security and Zero Trust depth to help us design and deliver those solutions successfully.

Together, they strengthen our ability to support customers from initial assessment and solution design through to implementation and ongoing optimisation. Their appointments reflect our commitment to building deep expertise in the technologies and services we specialise in," said Crowley.

Principle Networks said its model centres on co-managed security services, platform consolidation and Zero Trust architecture. The company works with organisations looking to simplify security operations, reduce tool sprawl and make greater use of existing technology investments.

The latest appointments place greater emphasis on senior technical design, specialist cyber security expertise and enterprise account leadership as the company develops its position in the UK market. The hires bring in expertise from three established names in the sector while broadening Principle Networks' reach across both pre-sales architecture and long-term customer management.