Target Names New Risk Exec

Jacqueline Hourigan Rice is Chief Risk and Compliance Officer
Target Names New Risk Exec
Jacqueline Hourigan Rice

Following its massive data breach last December, Target continues to rebuild its executive leadership with the hire of former General Motors executive Jacqueline Hourigan Rice as senior vice president and chief risk and compliance officer.

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Rice, who will join the retailer Dec. 1, will report directly to Brian Cornell, the new chairman of the board and CEO of Target.

The reporting structure is significant, observers say, and may be an indicator that cybersecurity, in the retail sector specifically, has finally reached a point where major resource investments are being made. "The elevation of this role [in] answering to the CEO indicates that there is a real need for security, for brand as well as monetary sake," says Tyler Shields, an analyst at Forrester Research.

The hire could inspire other companies to restructure their organization charts to give more authority to the person in charge of data protection, says Francoise Gilbert, founder and managing director of the IT Law Group. "If companies can follow the leadership of Target and, on their own terms and with their own budget, pay more attention to the protection of personal information and company data, they will quickly see the return on their investment," she explains.

Job Details

Rice's position will include centralized oversight of enterprise risk management, compliance, vendor management and corporate security, Target says. At General Motors she most recently served as the chief compliance officer. Her 17-year career includes global leadership roles at organizations in areas such as ethics, compliance and data privacy.

"Earlier this year, Target stated our commitment to overhaul our information security and compliance structure and practices, and with that came the need to elevate the role of key positions in the company," Cornell says. "[Rice] is a proven leader with solid global experience, and I know she has what it takes to help us move forward in this complex and ever-changing environment."

The retailer previously had someone in the position of vice president, assurance, risk and compliance, who retired earlier this year, says Molly Snyder, spokesperson at Target. "This is [now] an elevated position as it is newly reporting to our CEO," she says.

With the hire of Rice, Target has now filled all the positions it outlined as a priority earlier this year following the breach, Snyder says.

The retailer late last year suffered a breach that compromised 40 million credit and debit card numbers and impacted personal information of an additional 70 million customers (see: Target Breach: By The Numbers).

Aftermath from the Breach

Target saw significant restructuring following its breach, most notably with Cornell replacing Gregg Steinhafel, who resigned as chairman, president and CEO in May (see: Breach Aftermath: Target CEO Steps Down). Cornell, who joined Target August 12, formerly was the CEO of PepsiCo American Foods.

Brad Maiorino joined Target June 16 as the company's first chief information security officer, having formerly led information security at General Motors and General Electric.

And on May 5, Bob DeRodes became the new chief information officer, leading the retailer's information technology transformation. DeRodes replaced Beth Jacob, who resigned as CIO on March 5.


About the Author

Jeffrey Roman

Jeffrey Roman

News Writer, ISMG

Roman is the former News Writer for Information Security Media Group. Having worked for multiple publications at The College of New Jersey, including the College's newspaper "The Signal" and alumni magazine, Roman has experience in journalism, copy editing and communications.




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