David Smith, the former chief executive of Jaguar Land Rover (and currently CFO and a director of Rolls-Royce), has been named as the new chief financial officer of defence supplier Qinetiq (
www.qinetiq.com).
He will take up his new role in the New Year, succeeding David Mellors, who leaves Qinetiq at the end of the year to become CFO at Cobham.
Qinetiq, which has an operation in Malvern, said a further announcement on Mr Smith’s starting date would be made in due course, adding that Mr Smith had made an important contribution to restoring confidence in Rolls-Royce by improving its financial systems and delivering the early stages of its transformation.
Mr Smith, a previous CFO of the technology group Edwards, left JLR in 2010 — shortly after the firm’s takeover by Tata Motors and as it confronted the harsh realities of the credit crunch and recession.
Steve Wadey, Qinetiq CEO, said: “We are delighted that David has agreed to join Qinetiq He has extensive executive experience in ‘blue chip’ companies, and I am confident that he will make a significant contribution to delivering sustainable growth at Qinetiq.”