Dive Brief:

• Waste Management announced it has appointed Devina A. Rankin — formerly vice president, treasurer and acting CFO — as senior vice president, treasurer and CFO, according to a press release.
• The company also announced the election of Bradbury H. Anderson to the position of board chairman, following his service as a member of the board of directors. Anderson takes the spot of Bob Reum who passed away in early February. 
• As board chair, Anderson will also join the Audit Committee. With this addition he will now serve on all three committees of the board.

Dive Insight:

Waste Management has seen a large shift in leadership at the company in recent months, following the election of Jim Fish as CEO in November 2016. While most, if not all, of these leadership changes are part of a strategic planning process, the transition process has potential to throw some operations temporarily off track. However, following a strong Q4, Waste Management is more likely to see these changes result in continued success and progress.

In a January interview with Waste Dive, Rankin said her goals as acting CFO included "continuing down the path of the company's core strategy and being someone who leads by example with regard to our need to continue to identify improvement opportunities in our core operations." She expressed that she would "absolutely" fill the permanent role of CFO if it were to be offered to her, however she anticipated that the additional combination of the vice president and treasurer roles would be "short-term."

It is unclear how the combined responsibilities of senior vice president, treasurer and CFO will affect Rankin's leadership style, however she assured that she has "a great team of people" who help her daily, therefore it is unlikely that the extra workload will have any negative effect on operations.