Top automotive public relations exec Simon Sproule has taken a new role outside the auto industry — mostly.
Simon Sproule, the former head of public relations at Fiat Chrysler, Aston Martin, Tesla and other automakers, has come up with a new gig — outside the industry, mostly.
Sproule, who abruptly left his FCA post as the vice president of communications, took an executive position with Toptal, which specializes in placing freelancers with companies needing specialized services.
The firm is based in Southern California, though it operates virtual portals. Sproule will serve as Toptal’s head of communications. However, he himself is taking advantage of the “freelancer” role, acting as an adviser to startup EV maker, Fisker Inc.
(FCA adds two new executives to company’s top ranks.)
Niel Golightly joined FCA to head up its communications efforts, but stayed just a year and moved to Boeing.
“It’s an advisory role,” he told TheDetroitBureau.com. “Fisker is in addition to my role at Toptal.” Earlier, he told the website PRovoke that Toptal offered “an intellectual opportunity” at a particularly opportune time “given everything going on in the world” — including changes in the way people work.
Sproule joined FCA in February after heading public relations for the ultra-luxury carmaker Aston-Martin. He brought his long experience in the automotive industry, which included stints at Tesla, Nissan and Ford.
At the time of his departure from Fiat Chrysler, the company said in a statement, “Simon Sproule has made the personal decision to leave FCA. Shawn Morgan, a veteran FCA communications executive, replaced Sproule on an ad interim basis for North America. We wish Simon the best in his future endeavors.”
(FCA PR Chief Golightly moving from FCA to Boeing.)
Sproule replaced Neil Golightly, who had left FCA last December as the company was moving forward with a merger with the French automaker Groupe PSA. The FCA-PSA merger is expected to be complete by the end of the year.
Golightly moved to take an even more challenging job with Boeing, which was in the midst of dealing with an internal scandal at the same time it was dealing with the fallout from controversy surrounding the Boeing 737 Max passenger jet, which had been grounded after two horrific and deadly accidents that killed nearly 400 passengers.
However, Golightly has already moved on from that job, resigning last month, in the wake of an employee’s complaint about an article that the executive wrote in 1987 as a Navy pilot questioning the ability of women to serve in combat.
(Sproule leaving Tesla for CMO spot at Aston Martin.)
CFO Greg Smith assumed Golightly’s duties on an interim basis until Golightly’s successor was found. Golightly held communications jobs at Royal Dutch Shell and Ford after serving as a fighter pilot in the U.S. Navy.
