Bath & Body Works on hunt for chief customer officer, CFO; names tech chief
Bath & Body Works is expanding its leadership team with the addition of two new c-suite positions.
The personal care and home fragrance retailer said it making a series of leadership changes designed “to accelerate growth, enhance the customer experience and expand core capabilities.” It also announced that, in a “planned transition,” Wendy Arlin will step down as CFO, effective July 29, or earlier if a successor is named. The retailer has started a search for a new CFO.
As part of the leadership updates, Bath & Body Works named Thilina Gunasinghe to the new role of chief digital & technology officer, effective April 17. He joins the company from McDonald’s Corp., where he most recently served as global VP, chief technology architect & data officer and was responsible for leading all customer, digital and restaurant technology architecture and data globally.
In the newly created role, Gunasinghe will lead Bath & Body Works’ digital and technology strategy, digital operations, data and analytics, and transformation.
In addition, the company has created the role of chief customer officer, for which a search is “well underway.” The CCO will be responsible for executing a comprehensive strategy to strengthen and elevate the brand, while growing and retaining Bath & Body Works’ customer base through the development of a personalized, connected, and compelling end-to-end customer experience.
The new roles comes about five months after former Unilever exec Gina Boswell was named CEO of Bath & Body Works.
“Adding a dedicated chief digital & technology officer and chief customer officer to our leadership team structure will help refine our focus as we work to expand our customer base, elevate our brand, further strengthen customer loyalty and ultimately drive growth and profitability,” said Boswell.
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Arlin assumed the role of CFO for Bath & Body Works in August 2021. Prior to this, she served as senior VP, finance and corporate controller for L Brands.
“We are grateful for Wendy’s significant contributions to Bath & Body Works, and appreciate her commitment to ensuring a smooth transition,” said Boswell. “Notably, Wendy was an instrumental member of the team that led the successful spin-off of the Victoria’s Secret business and established Bath & Body Works as a standalone public company, in addition to her work building a strong finance team and helping the company navigate the dynamic operating environment. We wish her all the best in her next chapter.”
The company noted that Julie Rosen will continue in her role as president, retail and will have responsibility for all channels of the business, all product functions and the new business opportunities teams.
Bath & Body Works, which was spun off from L Brands in 2021, has more than 1,800 company-operated stores in the U.S. and Canada and more than 425 international franchised locations.