Benefit pros on the move: Prudential, WageWorks, Voya, Confidio

There have been a number of promotions and new hires in the pharmacy benefit, insurance and brokerage spaces in the first half of the year. Even in a tight labor market, executives are moving to new roles. Employee Benefit Adviser has a roundup of some of the job changes that have been on our radar over the last few months.

Do you have a new hire or promotion you would like to share? Is a key executive stepping down after years of service? Contact caroline.hroncich@sourcemedia.com and let me know. Please provide a high-resolution headshot along with the new job details.

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Brennan selected for newly created position at Willis Towers Watson

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Willis Towers Watson, a global advisory, brokerage and solutions company, has appointed Michele Brennan as U.S. delegated defined contribution plan solutions leader. Brennan is based in Chicago and reports to Clint Cary, U.S. head of delegated investment solutions. Brennan has 25 years of experience in various consultant relations, business development, marketing and client servicing roles in the financial services industry. In this newly created position, Brennan will lead the development of delegated investment value propositions and solutions for defined contribution plan sponsors in the U.S. Prior to joining Willis Towers Watson, Brennan served as executive director, client relations at UBS Asset Management with defined contribution leadership responsibilities in their consultant relations team. Brennan also held senior distribution positions at AMG Funds and Skyline Asset Management.

Gusto recruits first CPO from Google

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HR and payroll technology firm Gusto announced the hire of its first chief people officer — Danielle Brown, who previously served as Google’s vice president of employee engagement. Brown’s employment is the latest in Gusto’s upscaling efforts. Since 2012, the company has hired more than 800 new positions, with plans to add more in coming years. In this new role, Brown will be in charge of talent acquisition, talent development, employee experience, diversity and belonging, people operations and workplace environment initiatives at Gusto.

Pharmacy benefit advisory firm selects new account manager

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Pharmacy benefit advisory firm Confidio has hired Adrienne Diestelkamp as an account manager. Diestelkamp’s experience is focused on the employee benefits and insurance industries. Previously, she was an insurance broker in the small business market and has managed a variety of different employer groups.

Engelhardt joins Voya Financial’s relationship management team

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Christopher Engelhardt has joined Voya Financial’s strategic relationship management team to support the company’s tax-exempt markets. In his role at Voya, Engelhardt will serve as vice president of client relationship director for tax-exempt markets and will focus on executing plan retention and growth goals to support large plan sponsors in the healthcare and nonprofit segment. Engelhardt spent the last 17 years with Transamerica where, most recently, he served as regional vice president of client engagement and healthcare markets.

Prudential promotes Gillespie to head of distribution

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Prudential has promoted Jessica Gillespie to the role of head of distribution for Prudential Group Insurance. Gillespie previously served as vice president and head of national accounts, vice president of strategic partnerships and distribution excellence, and as the creator and leader of the Key Accounts Program at Prudential. Prior to Prudential, she worked for Cigna focusing on producer relations, product development and human resource operations.

Hessen accepts clinical account executive role

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Jody Hessen is Confidio’s new clinical account executive and has been in the PBM industry for more than 25 years, serving in a number of capacities, including both clinical and broader consulting roles. Hessen has been an independent consulting contractor, working for several PBM consulting firms including Visante, The Pharmacy Group, TPG Healthcare Consulting and Blue Peak Advisors. Her clients included small and large health plans, PBMs, vendors for PBM services (such as medication therapy management), pharmaceutical manufacturers and other entities.

HR tech startup selects former ADP executive for leadership role

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HR tech startup Hibob has selected former ADP leader Keren Hillman as U.S. Vice President of Sales and Operations. Hillman brings two decades of experience to Hibob where she will lead the company’s newly established New York office and spearhead U.S. expansion. Hillman has worked in the HR industry for more than 20 years, most recently at the ADP Innovation Lab where she led client success and was part of the TalentX team. She has also worked for AIG, Deloitte, JP Morgan and IBM.

HR Acuity selects new chief operating officer

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HR Acuity has appointed Charlie Holbech to the position of chief operating officer. In this newly created position, Holbech will lead all commercial and operational activities, including sales, marketing, product, service and technology. Holbech has 20 years of operational, customer success and startup experience in HR, technology, analytics and digital media. He most recently served as vice president of client experience at WorkMarket, a software that enables companies to organize, manage and pay freelancers, and was acquired by ADP in 2018.

Drinker Biddle & Reath select new partner for benefits practice

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Kimberly Jones has joined national Law firm’s employee benefits and executive compensation group as a partner in its Chicago office. She joins the firm from Ogletree Deakins. For more than a decade, Jones has represented clients in ERISA and non-ERISA employee benefits matters at both the U.S. federal and state court levels. Her clients include insurance companies, employers, plan administrators, claim administrators and multiemployer benefit funds. Jones has worked with clients on a variety of benefit claim litigation matters, including disability, life, health, pension claim denials, and ERISA breach of fiduciary duty claims. Jones has experience arguing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and has represented clients in administrative employee benefits matters. She also provides counseling and guidance to clients regarding benefit claims and plan design.

Confidio hires new account manager

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Whitney Karimah will serve as an account manager at Confidio. Prior to joining the company, she worked for a small software-based wellness firm as an account manager where she focused on creating wellness plans and programs for her clients. She also held a position with Cigna Behavioral Health as a care senior associate.

Confidio hires regional sales director

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Tassanee Khouri has accepted the role of Confidio’s regional sales director. Prior to joining Confidio, she was on the account management team at MedImpact, serving large regional health plans, employer groups and hospital systems. Khouri received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in economics from Barnard College and earned her MBA from the Rady School of Management, University of California San Diego.

Norman tapped for regional sales director role

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Jake Norman will serve as Confidio’s regional sales director. Prior to Confidio, Jake spent 15 years at Benefit Administrative Systems, a third-party administrator, as a director of business development. Jake also served in several roles within Express-Scripts ending his time there as a senior benefits analyst.

Philippi joins Confidio as an account executive

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As an account executive Jo Lyn Philippi will leverage her nearly 30 years of experience in the healthcare and pharmacy benefits industries. She has served in a number of different capacities including account management, benefits analysis and auditing. Before joining Confidio, Philippi worked for ConnectYourCare and Express Scripts, as well as national medical carriers, a TPA, a broker, and a medical claims auditing firm. She received her bachelor's degree in marketing and speech from Ohio Northern University.

Politte joins Confidio as operations manager

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Benjamin Politte joins Confidio as the business operations manager. Politte has seven years of direct experience in the pharmaceutical industry, assisting with pharmaceutical trials and analytics. He also worked at Express Scripts as a senior business analyst as well as an account manager.

WageWorks promotes Rose to COO

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WageWorks has promoted Scott Rose to chief operating officer after he served as senior vice president of customer experience at the company for two years. In this new role, he will oversee operations, communications, information security, information technology and customer experience. Rose came to WageWorks after working for 10 years at McKesson. Prior to McKesson, he worked for Fidelity Investments and served as vice president of marketing services for Chase Financial Services.

Health e(fx) selects new CEO

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Health e(fx), an Affordable Care Act compliance and reporting solution, named Michael Showalter as its new chief executive officer. Showalter formerly served as Health e(fx) executive vice president. The company’s former CEO, Andy Brown, will become chairman of the board. Showalter previously held roles at Definity Health, Prime Therapeutics and Cigna.

Weber recruited for VP role at Prudential

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Prudential has hired Tim Weber to the role of vice president of voluntary benefits distribution and workplace markets. In this newly created role, he will be responsible for the growth and retention of employee-paid insurance products within the group workplace and employee engagement with Prudential Group Insurance’s portfolio of financial wellness products and services. Weber will report to Jessica Gillespie. Weber joins Prudential from Mercer, where he was the national leader for voluntary benefits and marketplace solutions.
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