Former Microsoft CIO Stuart Scott, who was fired by the software vendor earlier this month for violating unspecified company policies, has landed a new job -- and a promotion -- at a Florida-based mortgage firm.

Scott, whose termination was disclosed by Microsoft on November 5 via an internal memo, started work today as chief operating officer at Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage, a privately held wholesale lender. His hiring was announced last Wednesday, on the eve of Thanksgiving and just over two weeks after he was let go by Microsoft.

According to a corporate profile published early last year by American Executive magazine, TB&W was a six-employee retail lender doing $1 million in loans per month before it was acquired in 1990 by Lee Farkas, who is the company's chairman. Now, TB&W says that it is one of the top 10 wholesale mortgage lenders in the US and that it services a mortgage portfolio with a total value of about US$50 billion. According to a brief, unsourced Wikipedia entry about the firm, it has 1,600 employees and closes an average of about US$2 billion worth of residential loans per month.

TB&W said in the press release about Scott's hiring that his "vast technology experience" at Microsoft and General Electric "made him an obvious choice" for the chief operating officer job.

"Stuart's credentials are impressive," Farkas said in a statement. "Having someone of his caliber join us further solidifies our ability to deliver innovative technology solutions."

Scott will continue to reside in Washington, where he lives with his wife and their seven children, TB&W said.

Repeated attempts today to leave voice mail messages seeking additional comments from Farkas and other top TB&W executives were unsuccessful. And a receptionist who answered the phone at the company's offices said that TB&W doesn't have a public relations contact who could field calls about Scott's hiring.

Scott worked at Microsoft for about two years; he initially was hired as co-CIO and then was given full control of the company's IT department late last year. Prior to joining Microsoft, he held several divisional CIO roles at GE, where he worked for 17 years.

After Scott's dismissal became public, some executive recruiters told Computerworld that they thought his post-Microsoft job prospects were good because of his experience -- though probably stronger among privately held companies, such as TB&W.

Ironically, TB&W's CEO is named Paul R. Allen. A different Paul Allen was one of Microsoft's co-founders.