Research in Motion announced two new additions to the company: Kristian Tear as the new chief operating officer and Frank Boulben as the new chief marketing officer.  Tear fills up the position vacated by Thorsten Heins when he was named the company’s CEO back in January.

“Kristian and Frank bring extensive knowledge of the rapidly changing wireless global market and will help RIM as we sharpen our focus on delivering long-term value to our stakeholders,” said Heins in the company’s press release.  “Most importantly, both Kristian and Frank possess a keen understanding of the emerging trends in mobile communications and computing.”

Tear served as CEO and President for Ericsson in various regions, shifted to corporate VP of Sony Ericsson in Western Europe and finally ended up working as executive VP for Sony Mobile Communications group.  As the new COO for RIM, he will be responsible for overseeing all operational functions for handhelds and services, including research and development, products, global sales, manufacturing and supply chain.

“RIM is an important player in the mobile industry and I am excited to be a part of its future,” said Tear. “I look forward to working with the talented RIM employees and harnessing their ingenuity and creativity for the benefit of more than 77 million BlackBerry users around the world.  I also look forward to helping RIM attract a brand new generation of BlackBerry users.”

Boulben’s work experience on the other hand is more carrier focused, serving as director of commercial strategy for Vodafone, executive VP for brand and consumer marketing at Orange and finally as executive VP at LightSquared before his CMO appointment at RIM where he will oversee global marketing efforts.

“RIM is a pioneer in the mobile world and the BlackBerry brand is a global icon,” said Boulben. “We all know how fast the mobile arena evolves and with the BlackBerry 10 platform, I believe RIM will once again change the way individuals and enterprises engage with each other and the world around them.  I could not resist the opportunity to be part of that transformation.”

The executive level changes come a time of great turmoil for RIM, as they continue to lose ground to Apple and Google, as well as an increasing threat from the Microsoft-Nokia team up.  RIM’s decline over the past two years has been partially attributed to its leadership, and Heins as their new CEO is expected to take RIM in a completely new direction.

It’s been a big couple of weeks for RIM as they struggle to maintain relevance in a fast-paced mobile revolution, unveiling BlackBerry 10 as an open OS and catching some flack for an uninspiring anti-Apple promotion.