Pat Tomlinson, a long-time professional services executive, has been appointed as the president and CEO of Mercer.

Mercer provides HR consulting services to large companies. The firm, which has offices in dozens of countries worldwide, works with enterprises to write job postings, set employee compensation levels and develop professional development programs.

Mercer also operates in a few other parts of the consulting sector. It sells outsourced IT services, advises companies on M&A transactions and has an investment management practice.

Mercer is part of Marsh McLennan, a New York-headquartered professional services firm with annual revenues of more than $20 billion. Prior to his newly announced appointment as president and CEO of Mercer, Pat Tomlinson was the head of Marsh McLennan’s U.S. and Canada business.

Tomlinson will take over his new role in stages.

As of today, Tomlinson is Mercer’s president but not yet its CEO. He will put on the CEO hat after the current holder of the role, Martine Ferland, will retire at the end of next March.

During this interim period, Tomlinson will retain his previous position as the head of Marsh McLennan’s US and Canada business.

After the interim period completes, Tomlinson will report directly to Marsh McLennan CEO John Doyle. Commenting on Tomlinson’s promotion, Doyle remarked that “he is a leader with a proven record of success who delivers growth and drives transformation, and who possesses a deep understanding of our business and clients.”

The appointment is a bit of a return to roots for Tomlinson. In an earlier phase of his more than decade-long career at Marsh McLennan, he was the head of Mercer’s Canada Career business, which provides HR consulting services to companies in Canada.

Before joining Marsh McLennan, Tomlinson spent 17 years at insurance giant Aon. 

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