Signet Jewelers announces new CFO and combined mall leadership team

By

Robin Driver

Published
Mar 13, 2019

Global jewelry retailer Signet Jewelers Limited named Joan M. Hilson as its new chief financial officer on Wednesday and announced the creation of a combined leadership team for its mall-based stores as part of its Path to Brilliance transformation plan.

 
In her new role, Hilson will succeed current CFO Michele Santana and will be responsible for overseeing Signet’s finance, accounting, investor relations, tax and treasury teams. She will be based at the company’s HQ in Akron, Ohio.
 
Joining Signet from David’s Bridal, where she has served as CFO since 2014, Hilson brings 30 years of experience in retail corporate finance to the jewelry retailer. Prior to working at David’s Bridal, the University of Akron graduate spent six years as CFO at American Eagle Outfitters, having previously served in a number of leadership roles at L Brands, including EVP and CFO at the company’s Victoria’s Secret brand.

Earlier in her career, the executive also worked at Sterling Jewelers Inc. and Coopers & Lybrand.
 
Hilson’s appointment is effective April 4, 2019. Santana will remain with the company through the end of the month to ensure a smooth transition.
 
Jamie L. Singleton, Bill Luth and Kecia Caffie have also been appointed to Signet’s newly created combined Mall Leadership Team, which will bring together the management of the retailer’s core Kay, Zales and Peoples banners in an effort to increase cohesion.
 
Singleton has been with the company for seven years and currently serves as EVP Zales and Peoples. Under the new leadership structure, she has been promoted to president of Kay, Zales and Peoples, a role in which she will have full P&L and operational responsibilities, overseeing merchandising, marketing, and e-commerce for all three brands.
 
Prior to joining Signet, Singleton served in SVP roles at CPI Corp., David’s Bridal and After Hours Formalwear.

A 30-year Signet veteran, Luth, who previously served as EVP Kay, has now been named EVP for global store operations, while Caffie has been promoted to the role of SVP for Piercing Pagoda.
 
Singleton, Luth and Caffie will continue to report to Signet’s president and chief customer officer, Seb Hobbs.
 
“As we pursue our vision to be a share-gaining omnichannel jewelry category leader, we are taking bold steps to reorganize our leadership team,” explained Signet CEO Virginia C. Drosos in a release. “We believe these changes will enable us to better capture banner growth opportunities, relentlessly improve product assortment, expand our precision journey-based targeting of customers, and create a stronger omnichannel shopping experience in-store and online.”
 
This latest spate of appointments comes a year into Signet’s Path to Brilliance transformation plan, which aims to boost the company’s digital capabilities and customer engagement in order to develop its omnichannel model. 
 
The strategy also involved the recent appointments of William R. Brace as chief marketing officer and EVP of Jared, and Toni Zehrer as chief merchandising officer.
 
Having already announced a disappointing 1.3% decline in same-store sales over the holiday period in January, Signet currently plans to report its fourth-quarter and full fiscal year 2019 earnings on April 3.