Just a year after executing the biggest med-tech acquisition ever, Medtronic PLC is hiring a new chief financial officer with a deep background in banking.
Karen Parkhill, 50, will become CFO and executive vice president of Medtronic, effective June 20. Longtime CFO Gary Ellis, who is serving under his third CEO since getting Medtronic's top finance job in 2005, plans to remain on the company's executive committee and continue managing activities related to last year's acquisition for up to a year after Parkhill's arrival.
"I am delighted to add someone with Karen's deep expertise and insights to the Medtronic leadership team," Chief Executive Omar Ishrak said a written announcement. "Given Karen's extensive background across all of the major disciplines within finance, and her direct experience as an investment banker, I am confident in her ability to lead our global finance organization and believe she will be a strong representative to our investors and Wall Street."
Parkhill comes to the Minnesota-run maker of medical devices from Dallas, where she was chief financial officer and vice chairman of Comerica, a financial services company with $69 billion in assets and locations in half a dozen states.
As CFO at Comerica, she was responsible for all financial reporting and directly managed departments including accounting, finance, and corporate planning and development at the publicly traded company. Before that job she had responsibilities for corporate compliance and financial intelligence for Comerica's service company, her bio on the Comerica website says.
All told she spent five years at Comerica, before her departure was announced Tuesday.
Before Comerica, Parkhill rose through the ranks at JPMorgan Chase and Co.
In 1992 Parkhill joined JPMorgan's investment banking division and held various roles of increasing responsibility, including an associate job in the mergers-and-acquisitions group, before becoming CFO of the firm's commercial banking business. The commercial banking branch serves medium-sized companies with financial planning and investment activity.