Hewitt Hires a New HRO Head

The HRO giant has tapped Jay C. Rising, 50, to head the group. Rising most recently served as president of field operations at RightNow Technologies, where he was responsible for global sales, marketing and consulting operations. Prior to RightNow, he spent nearly ten years at Automatic Data Processing, Inc., and also held a variety of management positions at American Express.

New Roles

Rising succeeds Julie S. Gordon, who was named to the new position of president of client & market leadership. Gordon had been serving as acting president of HR outsourcing at the firm since last June, following the departure of Bryan Doyle (see Hewitt’s “Learning” Experience Weighs on Earnings ). In her new role, Gordon will oversee Hewitt’s overall client relationship strategy, with particular focus on its largest clients, most of which use both Hewitt’s consulting and outsourcing services, according to a press release.

“We are making important changes that will enable Hewitt to realize its full potential for the future,” said Chairman and CEO Russ Fradin (see Hewitt Names BISYS Leader as CEO and Chairman ). “We have augmented our already strong leadership team with new talent, which provides us with a powerful combination of industry perspectives and experience that will help us further enhance our position as the premier HR service provider.” Both Rising and Gordon will report to Fradin.

Additionally, within Hewitt’s benefits outsourcing business, Steven N. Fein, 48, has been appointed to the newly created position of sales and product strategy leader, and Robert D. Thomas has joined the firm to lead client implementations, reporting to Rohail Khan, who continues as leader of operations.

Fein, who served as national practice leader of Hewitt’s flexible benefits consulting practice in the 1980s, rejoins the company after spending 20 years in industry management roles, most recently as global managing director of strategy, marketing and product management for Mercer’s benefits outsourcing business. Fein will work in partnership with Khan, and both will report to Rising.

In his new role, Thomas, 53, is focused on client implementations, as well as driving operational excellence and quality across Hewitt’s benefits outsourcing clients. Prior to Hewitt, he held numerous senior leadership positions at ADP, including division vice president of time and labor management services.

Leading Hewitt’s human resources function and also reporting to Fradin is Tracy S. Keogh, 46, who is the former global head of HR for Bloomberg LP. Previously, she was the global head of HR at Analog Devices, Inc.