Nike Promotes 14-Year Swoosh Veteran Jennifer Hartley to Chief Strategy Officer
Nike is beefing up its executive team as it continues to push forward on its turnaround plans.
According to an internal email written by the company’s chief financial officer Matt Friend and seen by FN, the Swoosh has named 14-year Nike veteran Jennifer Hartley as its new chief strategy officer.
Hartley will report to Friend and will serve directly on Nike’s senior leadership team. Friend noted that she will work closely with him and CEO Elliott Hill to “develop, drive and deliver” Nike’s strategic agenda.
Hartley started her Nike career in corporate strategy and development in 2011, and has held various roles such VP of North American marketplace finance, VP of global consumer and marketplace strategy, senior director of North American merchandising business operations, and more.
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Most recently, Hartley served as VP of strategic enterprise capabilities. Prior to Nike, Hartley spent over five years at McKinsey & Co.
Hartley’s appointment comes one month after Hill laid out a more in-depth progress report on his plans to turn around the challenged sportswear company.
On the company’s third quarter earnings call in March, Hill told analysts about its “Win Now” strategy Nike execs developed back in December. According to the CEO, who joined the company in October, these new priorities are centered around five fields of play, three countries and five cities.
Net income at the Beaverton, Ore.-based company in Q3 was $794 million, down 32 percent from $1.2 billion in the year-ago period. Diluted earnings per share was 54 cents, a decrease of 30 percent from 77 cents at the same time last year. Net sales in the period were $11.3 billion, down 9 percent from $12.4 billion, on a reported basis, compared to the prior year.
The company’s third-quarter results handily beat analyst estimates. Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings per share of 29 cents in the quarter. Revenue also bested analysts’ expectations of an 11.5 percent drop, according to data compiled by LSEG.
