The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board appointed James McNamara as its first-ever chief operating officer Monday.
In the brand new role, he will focus on improving the PCAOB's organizational effectiveness as well as act as chief administrative officer, overseeing the human resources, administration, finance and budget offices, in addition to the facilities department. The PCAOB's draft strategic plan aims to improve organizational effectiveness and the board hopes McNamara will help achieve this goal by radically improving the employee experience and empowering PCAOB staff to advance the organization's investor-protection mission after the board came under criticism last year for firing employees, discriminating against some of them and not doing enough to protect investors, leading to the departures of several members of the board amid a shakeup by the Securities and Exchange Commission (
"Jamey has a tremendous amount of experience and expertise managing people, budgets, and operations in the financial regulatory environment," said PCAOB chair Erica Y. Williams in a statement. "His knowledge and leadership will be crucial for the PCAOB as we carry out our strategic commitment to improving our organizational effectiveness for the benefit of investors."
Like Williams and PCAOB board member Kara Stein, McNamara previously worked for the SEC. Before joining the PCAOB this month, McNamara spent nearly four years as chief human capital officer and the director of the office of human resources at the SEC. Prior to joining the SEC's HR office, he had other roles at the SEC including managing executive for the division of trading and markets, as well as assistant director for planning and budget, budget officer, and branch chief for budget formulation and performance management in the SEC's office of financial management. He began his federal career at the Justice Department, where he worked in HR management and budget formulation.
"The PCAOB has an essential mission and an outstanding staff that I am honored to join," McNamara said in a statement. "I look forward to seeing what we will accomplish together as we rededicate ourselves to improving how the PCAOB operates."
With McNamara's appointment, Holly Greaves has moved back to her main role as the PCAOB's CFO. Since 2020, she has functioned as both CFO and acting chief administrative officer at the PCAOB.
