GSK’s finance SVP joins Parexel International

Pharmaceutical services provider Parexel International has appointed Simon Harford as chief financial officer and senior vice president from 1 June.

Harford joins from GlaxoSmithKline, where he most recently served as senior vice president of finance, based at the pharma firm's global headquarters in the UK.

Prior to joining GSK in 2009, Harford served as group vice president and controller at cosmetics firm Avon, having previously spent two decades at Eli Lilly in a number of roles including chief financial officer for its EMEA operations.

Josef von Rickenbach, chairman and chief executive of Parexel, said: “Simon brings to Parexel more than three decades of global financial management and investor relations experience in the pharmaceutical industry.

“Simon's leadership will strengthen our ability to accelerate growth and improve profitability as we implement our corporate strategy.”