HII Promotes Hughes and Jacobs

Global engineering and defense technologies provider Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced today the promotion of Edmond Hughes to executive vice president and chief human resources officer. Hughes, formerly the vice president of human resources and administration contracts at HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division and at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding since 2006, will replace William “Bill” R. Ermatinger, who will retire on April 1 after 35 years of service. HII also appointed Susan Jacobs to replace Hughes as the vice president, human resources and administration of Ingalls Shipbuilding, effective April 1.

“Bill’s leadership has been critical to the evolution and growth of HII. It is a testament to his success that we have a deep bench of talent to fill his shoes,” said Mike Petters, president and CEO of HII. “I thank Bill for his leadership and dedication, and I am confident that those who directly supported him, Edmond and Susan, will follow his strong example as they too make their marks on this great company.”

Hughes will be responsible for HII’s human resources strategy; executive and employee compensation; health and welfare; benefits; employee and labor relations; learning and development; talent management and succession planning; talent acquisition; equal employment opportunity; diversity and inclusion; organizational effectiveness; and change management.

In prior roles, Hughes led human resources at General Motors and TRW Automotive, where he gained experience in manufacturing environments, labor negotiations in unionized facilities, succession planning and implementation of human capital initiatives. Hughes holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Tougaloo College and an MBA from Indiana University.

Taking Hughes’ position at Ingalls is Susan Jacobs, who has served in the vice president of human resources at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division since 2016, and before that as director of human resources and administration for more than nine years at Ingalls. Similar to her role at Newport News, she will be responsible for leading all aspects of the human resources function related to the attraction, development and retention of the workforce.

Prior to Jacobs’ role at Ingalls, she worked as senior director of human resources for L-3 Communications. A native of Mississippi, she earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and an MBA from the University of Southern Mississippi.

Together, the move to corporate by Hughes and between the divisions by Jacobs, will foster critical knowledge sharing and alignment within HII. These moves will be critical in continuing HII’s proven track record of developing leaders and talent, plus creating an environment that values respect, engagement and performance that are hallmarks of HII’s culture.