Shipbuilder HII makes leadership team appointments

Edmond Hughes and Susan Jacobs

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) has promoted 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 since 2006, will replace William “Bill” R. Ermatinger, who will retire on April 1 after 35 years of service. Susan Jacobs will replace Hughes as VP human resources and administration at Ingalls.

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. He 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.

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.

HII says that the move to corporate by Hughes and between the divisions by Jacobs, will foster critical knowledge sharing and alignment within the organization.