Former Target and Uber exec Jeff Jones named CEO of H&R Block

Jeff Jones, the former Target marketer who became a top executive at Uber for six months before quitting earlier this year, has landed his next gig: CEO of H&R Block.

The Kansas City-based tax preparer, the biggest in the U.S. with $3 billion in annual revenue, announced the appointment Tuesday.

In an interview, Jones said H&R Block is "coming off a great [tax] season last year." He added, "The business is very profitable. It's on great footing and it's also beginning to get its swagger back."

Jones said he weighed several different opportunities after leaving as president of Uber in March while controversies grew around it. When he got the call from H&R Block, he was instantly intrigued, he said, because it's a market leader with a great legacy of building trust with consumers and the company's board was interested in finding more ways to grow.

He added, "I'm not walking into a troubled situation. It's good to not walk into a problem."

Jones continued to keep the Twin Cities as home while working for San Francisco-based Uber. Now, he'll move to Kansas City.

He was Target's chief marketing officer from 2012 to 2016, a difficult period that included a data breach that sapped customers' confidence in the retailer, a failed expansion in Canada that cost billions and the ouster of its chief executive.

In August 2016, Uber hired Jones to help it improve its reputation, cope with fast growth and increasing ­scrutiny over its treatment of drivers and questionable behavior by senior leaders, including founder and CEO Travis Kalanick.

Six months later, Jones resigned from the role, saying that his beliefs and leadership style were inconsistent with what he experienced at Uber. His was the highest-ranking departure among an exodus of Uber leaders at the time.

After that, pressures continued to mount at Uber and led Kalanick to step down in June.

Asked about his time at Uber and the events since he left the company, Jones replied that he's now almost been gone from the company longer than he was there. "It's really just increasingly in the rear view mirror for me," he said. "I'm just focused on getting started here."

H&R Block cited Jones' ethical compass as among the reasons for selecting him to be its next leader.

"One of our core corporate values is 'We Do the Right Thing,' " Robert Gerard, H&R's board chairman, said in a statement. "There are few people who embody this more than Jeff. He is a transformational leader, one who deeply understands today's consumer and who knows how to drive results in large-scale ­operations."

Jones will replace Tom Gerke, H&R Block's general counsel who stepped in to become interim CEO earlier this year until a permanent replacement was found for retiring CEO Bill Cobb.

He officially starts the job in October. While his appointment wasn't announced until Tuesday morning, Jones was at H&R Block's headquarters on Monday and watched the solar eclipse from the roof.

"It was an incredible view," he said.

Kavita Kumar • 612-673-4113