Electrical distributor Viking Electric has created two new roles as part of an organizational structure change, which the company believes will promote proactive sales, inventory and operations planning (SIOP).

As part of the SIOP realignment, the company announced in a Dec. 13 news release that Jay Paradies will assume the newly created role of Vice President of Supply Chain. This role will help improve the distributor’s approach to supply chain and inventory management by more closely aligning with operational capabilities across the entire organization.

Paradies has 33 years of experience at Viking Electric and, for the past six years, he served as VP of Operations.

In addition, Steve Sass will be promoted to the newly created role of VP of Sales Enablement. In this role, Sass will oversee sales operations (including enhanced sales growth strategies), product management, pricing, marketing, and digital solutions across the organization.

Sass began his career at Viking Electric more than 17 years ago and has held a variety of roles in the sales side of the organization, most recently as the company’s Director of Sales Operations.

Viking Electric VP of Marketing & Materials Retires

Scott Miesen, Viking Electric’s Vice President of Marketing & Materials, will retire from the company at the end of the month.

Miesen began his career in the electrical industry with General Electric, and held sales leadership positions at Philips Advance and an electrical distributor competitor. In 2006, he joined Viking Electric as the Contractor Sales Manager for the Twin Cities market. In 2010, he was promoted to Vice President of Sales in the Eastern Region. In 2017, he was named VP of Marketing & Materials.