With production of Rivian’s first saleable units less than six months away and the startup EV maker pivoting to becoming a revenue-generating enterprise, CEO RJ Scaringe has recruited an industry outsider as CFO, Claire McDonough, from J.P. Morgan.
Ryan Green, Rivian’s CFO since 2018, will stay with the company “in a leadership role,” Rivian said in a statement, without elaborating on what his duties will entail.
McDonough has more than a decade of experience in finance; Rivian’s CFO position will be her first in the auto industry.
She began at J.P. Morgan in 2014 as vice president of retail and consumer investment banking. In April 2019, she became managing director, co-head of the firm’s Disruptive Commerce Group, a joint venture between consumer retail and technology investment banking, Rivian said in a news release. Prior to J.P. Morgan, she held finance positions at the Fairway Market grocery chain and Credit Suisse, according to her LinkedIn profile.
McDonough has a bachelor’s degree in public policy and visual art from Duke University. She earned an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Rivian has been building its leadership team as the company’s first vehicle, the battery powered R1T pickup, nears production. In the past year, the company has made the following hires:
- Rod Copes as COO, formerly of motorcycle manufacturers Royal Enfield and Harley-Davidson.
- Laura Schwab, formerly of Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin, as vice president of sales and marketing.
- Matt Horton as executive vice president of energy and charging solutions, from electric bus maker Proterra.
- Noe Mejia, a veteran of Tesla and Lucid Motors, as senior director of service operations.
- Charly Mwangi, a former Tesla engineering executive and Toyota and Nissan veteran, as executive vice president of manufacturing.
- Georgios Sarakakis, an Apple, Waymo and Tesla veteran, as vice president of reliability engineering.
- Beth Harrington, a veteran of Volvo and Tesla, as director of strategic programs.
Deliveries are slated to begin in early June. Now is a critical time as Rivian works to convert hand-raisers who put down deposits into paying customers. The R1T has a starting price of $67,500.
