(Cary, N.C.) SciQuest, Inc., a leading provider of on-demand strategic procurement and supplier enablement solutions, today announced the appointment of Rudy C. Howard as chief financial officer (CFO). Howard is a seasoned executive who brings more than 30 years of finance, investment banking, accounting, investor relations and operations experience to his role at SciQuest.

“We are delighted to have an executive of Rudy’s caliber and expertise join the SciQuest team,” said Stephen Wiehe, president and CEO of SciQuest. “His experience in a broad range of industries and companies, from startups to established multi-national corporations, will be a great asset to SciQuest in the healthcare, higher education, government and life sciences sectors we serve.”

Most recently, Howard served as senior vice president and CFO at MDS Pharma Services, Inc., a multi-national pharmaceutical services organization, where he directed all aspects of financial planning and analysis, helped develop corporate and product strategies, and managed the transition of acquisitions and divestitures. He also held CFO and chief operation officer roles at other leading organizations, including Peopleclick, an international human capital management software developer; Marketing Services Group, Inc., a marketing and internet technology company; and Pharmaceutical Product Development, a global pharmaceutical organization.

Howard also served as a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he oversaw the management of clients in the pharmaceutical, biotech, high technology, and financial services industries. Howard is a Certified Public Accountant and received his Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from North Carolina State University.

“SciQuest has developed a strong, differentiated on-demand offering that has established the company as an eprocurement leader in the markets it serves,” said Howard. “I look forward to working with the team to take advantage of the enormous opportunity SciQuest has to help companies bring their spending under management. As we move forward in an improving economy, the market need for the solutions that SciQuest offers couldn’t be more evident.”

SciQuest provides a leading on-demand strategic procurement and supplier enablement solution that integrates customers with their suppliers to improve procurement of indirect goods and services. Our on-demand software enables organizations to realize the benefits of strategic procurement by identifying and establishing contracts with preferred suppliers, driving spend to those contracts and promoting process efficiencies through electronic transactions. Using our managed SciQuest Supplier Network, our customers do business with more than 30,000 unique suppliers and spend billions of dollars annually.

Our current target markets are higher education, life sciences, healthcare and state and local governments. We tailor our solution for each of the vertical markets we serve by offering industry-specific functionality, content and supplier connections. We serve more than 160 customers operating in 16 countries and offer our solution in five languages and 22 currencies.