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The former top lawyer for Rosetta Stone Inc. has joined industrial and defense technology company FLIR Systems Inc. to serve as senior vice president, general counsel, secretary and chief ethics and compliance officer.

Sonia Galindo succeeds Todd DuChene, who resigned from his top lawyer post at FLIR in March to serve as general counsel of Core Scientific Inc., a Bellevue, Washington-based provider of artificial intelligence and blockchain tech. 

Galindo now oversees FLIR's worldwide legal issues, from mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property matters and corporate governance to data privacy, cybersecurity and global trade compliance. 

FLIR specializes in thermal imaging, visible-light imaging, video analytics, robotics and a variety of other detection systems for defense, industrial and commercial clients. The company describes itself as “The World's Sixth Sense.”

“I think it's a really dynamic, high-potential organization, even from its already existing great record,” Galindo said on Monday, her first day on the job. Galindo is based at FLIR's headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. 

FLIR president and CEO Jim Cannon said in a statement announcing Galindo's appointment that she “brings a wealth of legal expertise” and “will provide the leadership necessary to operate in accordance with the global laws under which the company operates.” 

Galindo began her career in 1996 as a staff attorney for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission before going into private practice as a securities and corporate governance lawyer for Blank Rome and later Whiteford Taylor Preston, according to her LinkedIn profile.

She entered the in-house world in 2005 as associate corporate counsel and assistant secretary for Baltimore-based food maker and distributor McCormick & Co. Inc. She left in 2008 to serve as ethics and employment counsel for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  

In 2012, Galindo joined coffee and beverage company Keurig Green Mountain Inc., now Keurig Dr Pepper following a merger last year with Dr Pepper Snapple Group, as vice president, associate general counsel and corporate secretary. 

She went to work for Rosetta Stone in 2015 and over the past four years has led the education software company's global legal, human resources and business development departments. She also headed Rosetta Stone's global initiative on diversity, equity and inclusion.

“What was very clear to me as I was exploring the opportunity [to work for FLIR] was that they're talking the talk and walking the walk with diversity,” she said. “Jim [Cannon] has been intentional about putting together not just top talent but top talent that is diverse on his executive team and board.

“As a woman and a person of color, I feel like it's a responsibility for diverse professionals to keep on stretching and growing and advancing,” she added.

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