A former Nortel Networks executive in Research Triangle Park will help lead the executive management team of Genband, the Texas company that bought out a major Nortel unit last week and now employs more than 500 former Nortel workers here.

Jeff Townley is one of eight executives, and the only one in RTP, Genband announced this afternoon in the wake of Friday's $282 million acquisition of Nortel's Carrier VoIP and Applications Solutions business.

A 26-year veteran of Nortel, Townley has been named Genband's President of Operations, responsible for Professional Services, Support, Manufacturing and Supply Chain.