Patricia Lewis, the top HR officer at defense contractor Lockheed Martin, has been named executive vice president and chief human resources officer at Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth Group.
Lewis is moving to UnitedHealth Group after more than eight years at Lockheed Martin and more than a decade at IBM, according to her LinkedIn page.
Lewis replaces Ellen Wilson, who will retire in the coming months, according to a company spokesman. Wilson has held the top HR job at UnitedHealth Group since 2013.
Like Wilson, Lewis will serve among the company's top executives in UnitedHealth Group's office of the chief executive.
UnitedHealth Group is Minnesota's largest company by revenue. It employs about 18,000 people in the state and has a global workforce of more than 320,000 people.
In a Q-and-A article with a trade publication this year, Lewis offered thoughts on how to deliver tough messages by saying: "Providing straightforward and transparent responses with the rationale for decisions is key."
