Ford Motor Company announced that Kiersten Robinson, the company’s top human resources executive, would be promoted to general manager of Ford Blue’s family vehicles as well as president of Ford’s operations in Mexico and Canada as part of its effort to fill the leadership team of its newly created Ford Blue division.
Robinson will report to Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford Blue, and the change will become official in mid-May, according to a statement released by the carmaker on Monday.
CEO Jim Farley praised Kiersten as a “transformational leader” who has “been instrumental in supporting Ford’s business and global team for nearly three decades through innovative people, talent, employee safety, and workplace experience solutions.” “Kiersten has been instrumental in supporting Ford’s business and global team for nearly three decades,” Farley said in a statement. Ford Blue has promoted her to the position of president of Mexico and Canada, where she will also be in charge of our Family Vehicles product line, which includes the iconic Ford Explorer and Expedition as well as the Everest.”
Robinson began working for the organisation in 1995 and has held a variety of positions. For the last year, she has served as Ford’s chief people and employee experiences officer, and she was instrumental in developing the automaker’s remote work policies in response to the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Also announced Monday was the hiring of Jennifer Waldo, formerly of Apple, to take over for Robinson as Chief People and Employee Experience Officer, with effect from the middle of May. Farley will be her direct supervisor.
Apple’s vice president of People Business Partners since 2019, Waldo is in charge of the team that supports all nonretail people-related functions at the company, according to the company’s statement. These functions include software, hardware, services, design, marketing, as well as the global mobility and talent development teams, according to the statement.
“Jen has tremendous expertise and a proven track record of assisting organisations across a wide range of sectors in developing people and culture that fosters innovation and success,” Farley stated in a press release. In the process of building a diversified, high-performance team to carry out the Ford+ strategy, she will be an excellent asset.