L3Harris Technologies [LHX] on Monday named Michelle Turner as its new chief financial officer, succeeding Jay Malave, who the company said is pursing “career opportunities outside of L3Harris.”
The abrupt announcement was a surprise as Malave has helped the company successfully navigate the merger of Harris Corp. and L3Technologies, which closed in June 2019.
L3Harris said Malave’s departure was a “personal decision” and “was not prompted by any disagreement with leadership or the company’s financial reporting or accounting practices, procedures, or decisions.”
Turner, 48, joins L3Harris from the giant healthcare company Johnson & Johnson
[JNJ], where she was the senior vice president and CFO of the company’s enterprise supply chain function. She joined J&J in October 2017, leading financial and cash performance across more than 100 manufacturing sites in more than 30 countries.
Turner has experience in the aerospace and defense industry. She joined the former Raytheon Co. in 2007, and spent 10 years there, with her last role as vice president and CFO for the $6 billion Space and Airborne Systems segment.
Raytheon was acquired by United Technologies Corp. in April 2020, forming Raytheon Technologies Corp. [RTX].
Turner began her career in aerospace and defense, having joined Honeywell’s [HON] Aerospace unit as an intern. She also had roles in financial management, financial planning, accounting and audit with Honeywell. She also led finance at one time for the $12 billion business unit BHP Billiton Petroleum, part of Australia’s BHP Group [BHP], a global mining and oil and gas company.
Turner will report to Christopher Kubasik, vice chair and CEO of L3Harris.
“I am delighted to welcome Michell to the L3Harris team,” Kubasik said in a statement. “Her broad finance experience and defense industry knowledge, coupled with her ability to drive operational performance, will position us well to build on the strong foundation we have established.”
Jefferies aerospace and defense analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu said in a note to clients that while Turner “has not been a public company CFO she has a good working relationship with the government.”
L3Harris is scheduled to report fourth quarter and full year 2021 financial results next Monday. The company expects to generate about $17.9 billion in sales for 2021.
Kubasik thanked Malave for his “meaningful contributions” to the company and wished him “success in his future endeavors.”
Malave joined L3Harris in 2019 immediately following the merger between Harris and L3Technoogies after spending 22 years with United Technologies. Before joining L3Harris, he spent 15 months as the CFO of UTC’s Carrier climate control business and before that led finance for more than three years at UTC’s Aerospace Systems segment. At one time, he also led investor relations for UTC.