Merkle (www.merkleinc.com), a leading technology-enabled, data-driven customer experience management (CXM) company, announces three new appointments to its global leadership team across human resources, finance, and operations: Liz Rafferty, global chief people officer; Sarah Strassheim, global chief financial officer; and Sandra Swindle, global chief operating officer.
An industry veteran with more than 20 years of experience in HR, Liz Rafferty’s immediate focus will be on strengthening the company’s culture and bringing dentsu’s employee promise to life for all CXM team members as the company continues to expand. Rafferty has led the development of global, client-facing HR organizations, global M&A, HR transformation, outsourcing/BPO, and talent strategy. She joined Merkle nearly three years ago from Genesys Works and will maintain her role as head of HR for Merkle in the Americas in addition to her global role.
Sarah Strassheim is a seven-year Merkle veteran, who has driven significant process and profitability improvements through training and improved commercial communication and has played an integral role in many acquisition integrations. As global CFO, Strassheim’s primary focus will be supporting ongoing M&A and financial system integration activities. Prior to Merkle, Strassheim led finance at an international commodities business with a logistics and supply chain focus. She started her career at Accenture, where she spent over a decade in a variety of financial and reporting systems roles.
Sandra Swindle has been with Merkle for 11 years and most recently served as global delivery and solutions lead. An operations visionary, Swindle has consistently driven growth across the Merkle business. Her roots in data, technology and digital solutions, paired with her unmatched knowledge of Merkle’s operating model, will pay dividends as Swindle works with her team to develop strategies to achieve high-reaching goals. As Global COO, Swindle will be responsible for executing core business plans and processes to meet Merkle’s goals and objectives, in addition to collaborating with leaders across the company to support the implementation of integrated business life-cycle activities.
“We are thrilled to announce these appointments. Liz, Sarah, and Sandra are experts in their respective focus areas. Their vast knowledge and experience, paired with their undeniable dedication to Merkle and advancing the CXM industry, will make them instrumental leaders as we continue to work toward simplifying and industrializing our business processes and fully integrating the Merkle brand,” said Michael Komasinski, global CEO, Merkle. “We are steadfast in our commitment to being the leader in the CXM space, and by strengthening our leadership team, we are closer than ever to making that vision a reality.”