SMITHFIELD, VA. – Smithfield Foods announced Dennis Organ, president and chief executive officer, has appointed 12 new executive positions including seven at the c-suite level and five executive vice presidents.

“These key leaders represent decades of collective company and industry expertise. It is a testament to our depth and strength at Smithfield that such talented individuals are within our ranks,” Organ said. “Building on our guiding principles of responsibility, operational excellence and innovation, this team will carry our company forward and make operational excellence our standard. I am thrilled to work with them to shape Smithfield’s promising future.”

The following seven appointees will report directly to Organ.

Russ Dokken will now serve as chief sales officer, responsible for aligning sales, marketing, product innovation and business management initiatives. Dokken’s most recent role at Smithfield was executive vice president, US packaged meats. Dokken began his career in 1986 with John Morrell Food Group, a former independent operating company, where he held various positions in sales until it was acquired by Smithfield Foods in 1995.

Keira Lombardo assumes expanded responsibility as chief administrative officer and leads the company's administrative operations, including corporate communications, external affairs, government affairs, human resources, investor relations, legal and sustainability functions. Lombardo joined Smithfield in 2002 and has held various positions including executive vice president, corporate affairs and compliance; senior vice president, corporate affairs; and vice president, investor relations and corporate communications.

Glenn Nunziata continues as chief financial officer and leads the finance, accounting, treasury, tax, risk management, IT functions, as well as principal accounting officer. Nunziata joined Smithfield as CFO in September 2015. Prior to that he was a partner in assurance services at Ernst & Young. He has extensive experience in finance, capital markets, operational analysis, internal control and corporate governance.

Scott Saunders was appointed chief supply chain officer in charge of the company’s vertically integrated domestic supply chain. His was previously the company’s executive vice president, US supply chain, and president, fresh pork division. Prior to Smithfield, Saunders spent seven years as CFO of John Morrell Food Group, a former independent operating company. He has more than 30 years of experience in the food industry and began his career at Hormel Foods Corp. in 1986.

Shane Smith moved to chief strategy officer and will help develop, execute and sustain the company’s efforts to achieve growth through its own resources, as well as through mergers and acquisitions. Smith will continue to oversee European operations, including expansion into new markets, mergers and acquisitions and capital investments in Smithfield’s businesses. He joined Smithfield Foods in 2003 and previously served as executive vice president, European operations.

Brady Stewart was appointed chief manufacturing officer and will be directly responsible for Smithfield’s strategy implementation across the more than 500 company-owned farms and 45 production facilities in the United States. Also, he will oversee day-to-day operations of the company’s vertically integrated domestic business. Stewart joined Smithfield in 2017 as vice president and general manager of Kansas City Sausage Company and Pine Ridge Farms when Smithfield acquired the companies. In 2019, Stewart was promoted to executive vice president, US hog production.

Joe Weber became chief commodity hedging officer, responsible for commodity hedging activities and research, and analysis of economic factors that impact business. Weber will also manage the price and cost risks associated with commodity inputs and lead Smithfield’s hog procurement efforts. He joined Smithfield Foods in 1994 and most recently served as executive vice president, growth and emerging business.

The following five individuals will support the senior leadership team and have been promoted to executive vice president roles.

Luis Cerdan was appointed executive vice president, European operations, and will report to Smith. He responsibilities include the profitability of Smithfield’s European operations in Poland, Romania and the United Kingdom. Cerdan joined Smithfield in 2002 and most recently served as president of Smithfield Poland.

Jamie Dik will now serve as executive vice president, fresh meats, and oversee the domestic and international sales and business management for Smithfield Foods’ fresh meats portfolio where she is responsible for achieving revenue and profit goals. Dik joined Smithfield in 2012 and has held a variety of sales and business management roles in the company’s fresh pork business, most recently as senior vice president, business management.

Steve France was appointed executive vice president, packaged meats. His responsibilities will now be for Smithfield’s packaged meats and value-added fresh sales, with accountability for revenue and profit goals across all trade channels. In his new role, he also will lead Smithfield’s marketing and innovation teams. Prior to this promotion, France served as senior vice president, packaged sales.

Both Dik and France will report to Dokken.

Mark Hall is now executive vice president of finance and reports to Nunziata. He will be responsible for financial planning and analysis, operations and logistics finance, trade spend, data analytics and project and capital management in support of US business. Hall joined Smithfield Foods in 2014 as vice president of finance and was promoted to senior vice president, finance, in 2019.

John Sargent was appointed executive vice president, hog production, reporting to Stewart. He is directly responsible for the profitability of Smithfield’s US hog production operations, which are consisting of roughly 530 company-owned and 2,100 contract farms in 15 states producing nearly 18 million hogs per year. Sargent joined Smithfield Foods in 2007 and most recently served as vice president, US hog production.

In addition to the numerous appointments and promotions, Organ and his team celebrate the service of four leaders who plan to retire.

After a 35-year career at Smithfield and legacy independent operating companies, John Morrell & Co. and Farmland Industries, Dhamu Thamodaran, executive vice president, chief strategy officer and chief commodity hedging officer will retire. He is a sought-after advisor, keynote speaker and guest lecturer.

John Pauley, chief commercial officer of packaged meats, will retire after 20 years of service. He joined the company 20 years ago as president of Curly’s Foods, Saratoga Spice and Iowa Quality Meats. Prior to that he held positions at Campbell Soup Company and H.J. Heinz Company for 20 years.

Bill Michels will retire as senior vice president of operations, packaged meats, after 40 years of service. He has been directly responsible for oversight and direction of the day-to-day operations of Smithfield’s packaged meats business and supported Smithfield's business growth through strategic planning and goal setting.

Michael Cole, senior advisor to the CEO and corporate secretary, will retire after 24 years of service. In 1996, Cole joined Smithfield Foods as its only corporate attorney and was appointed corporate secretary in 1999 when Smithfield Foods listed its shares for trading on the New York Stock Exchange. He served as the company’s chief legal officer overseeing the Smithfield law department from 2006 to 2019. During his career, he has advised Smithfield’s senior leadership team and public company board of directors on many key business issues, including the company's merger with WH Group Limited in 2013.