LIVERMORE, Calif—Wiley X has announced the appointment of David S. Gaul to serve as the company’s new chief operations officer.

Gaul brings with him two decades of experience growing the distribution of innovative consumer products in partnership with North America’s top wholesalers and retailers. Gaul has also been involved with business operations in France, the U.K., Germany, Italy, Spain, China and Latin America. He joins Wiley X at a pivotal time in history—as the company celebrates 30 years of success and growth in 2017 and prepares for even bigger and better things in the future, the company said.

Gaul’s list of business accomplishments include serving as chief financial officer and administrative officer for Parrot SA, Inc., where he was responsible for North American Operations and also worked for Group Headquarters in Paris and San Francisco where he supervised financial controllers in the U.S., Germany, Spain and Italy while overseeing all administrative functions for this publicly traded French company.

“We’re honored to have David join the Wiley X family and are excited about all he bring to the table,” said Myles Freeman, Jr., Wiley X co-owner. “We have ambitious goals for the future, and meeting these goals will require taking the business aspects of our operation to the next level. David’s background, experience and track record of business success convinced us that he is the perfect choice for this extremely important leadership position.”

“As an avid outdoorsman for much of my life, I feel truly fortunate to be joining a market leader with such a rich heritage,” said Gaul. “I’m honored and excited to partner with the Wiley X team to deliver the operational excellence needed to support growth. I know there are great things ahead for Wiley X, and I’m eager to apply my operational experience, market understanding and leadership skills to help us reach our goals.”