Universal Technical Institute, a provider of transportation technician training, has announced several changes to its senior leadership team.
Todd Hitchcock has joined the company as chief strategy and transformation officer, UTI announced, while Lori Smith was promoted to chief information officer. The technical school is still conducting a national search for chief commercial officer.
Hitchcock, who has been consulting for UTI for two years, has been named to the newly created position of senior vice president – chief strategy and transformation officer, effective Jan. 6. In this role, he will oversee implementation of the company’s current strategy and lead UTI’s work to identify and leverage new opportunities for growth.
“Todd is truly a transformational leader, and an excellent addition to UTI’s deep and talented leadership team,” said Jerome Grant, UTI’s chief executive officer. “His experience and insights will allow us to innovate even more quickly and to explore new organic growth initiatives, as well as opportunities to acquire adjacent capabilities and build business-to-business programs and services.”
UTI also announced the promotion of Lori Smith to the position of senior vice president – chief information officer, with responsibility for evolving the company’s technology and business intelligence strategies and infrastructure in support of its growth initiatives.
“Lori brings a unique blend of innovative thinking, sector experience and institutional knowledge,” Grant said. “She created and led UTI’s business intelligence vision and strategy and helped us bring our transformation plan to life. As we move into this next phase of growth, her experience and perspective will be immeasurably valuable.”
As part of its ongoing work to evolve Marketing and Admissions, UTI has created and is actively searching to fill a new role, senior vice president – chief commercial officer (CCO), which will lead the company’s new, integrated approach to student engagement. As a result of this shift in responsibilities, Piper Jameson, executive vice president – chief marketing officer, has left the company to pursue other interests.
“UTI has now established a consistent record of start growth largely due to the shifts we have made in Marketing and Admissions. The creation of a CCO position speaks to our focus on optimizing interactions with students from lead generation to graduation, and to the results we believe this approach can deliver for our students and our business,” Grant said. “We thank Piper for her work to help us build a strong foundation for this transformation and wish her all the best.”
