In what was likely the most watched executive nomination process of the quarter, RIM has filled the two vacant positions on its executive team with long time industry veterans:  Kristian Tear to the position of Chief Operating Officer, and Frank Boulben to Chief Marketing Officer.

The appointments of Ms. Tear and Mr. Boulben come at RIM’s ‘make-or-break’ moment; RIM is flirting with 5 percent market share and is nearly at the point where it has to break into its cash reserves to keep itself afloat.

Ms. Tear joins RIM after a 20-year career with Sony Mobile Communications, while Mr. Boulben moves from his position as Vice President of Strategy, Marketing, and Sales at LightSquared – the troubled American wireless ISP that has been stuck in regulatory hell for the last few years.

RIM has been without a CMO since last year, when then CMO Keith Pardy left the company for “personal reasons” after the launch of the Blackberry Playbook. The company has been COO-less after Thorsten Heins stepped into the position following the release of co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie in January.

Shares of RIM rose more than 3 percent after it made the announcements.