Kevin Gordon, who is serving as executive vice president of operations and chief financial officer at Quintiles, a North Carolina-based CRO, has been promoted to chief operating officer at the company. In addition, Michael McDonnell is expected to join Quintiles in December as EVP and CFO.

Gordon will continue to serve as CFO until McDonnell joins the company.

“Kevin’s new role is recognition of the major contribution he has made to the company,” said CEO Tom Pike. “With Kevin as chief operating officer, we are formalizing many of his activities with customers, our executives and employees. Over the past years, Kevin has increased his operational influence and is already managing a substantive amount of our business in addition to his financial leadership of the company. This new role will enable Kevin to spend more time with customers and across the operations of our business.

“I am also very excited about Mike joining our leadership team. With a solid public company finance foundation, Mike has demonstrated financial and accounting expertise and business acumen in leading companies in complex, dynamic industries. His experience strengthens and deepens our management team. Between these two talented executives, we expect to have a smooth transition.”

Gordon joined Quintiles in 2010. Under his financial leadership since 2010, the company has delivered an 8% compound annual growth rate in net revenue and 14% growth in Adjusted EBITDA. At the same time, he has led the capital strategy for the company, including its 2013 initial public offering, as well as the recapitalization of its debt that provided an overall lower cost structure.

McDonnell joins Quintiles from Intelsat, where he has served as CFO since 2008. Previously, he held CFO positions at MCG Capital, a publicly held commercial finance company, and EchoStar Communications, formerly known as DISH Network. Earlier in his career, he was a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers. McDonnell also served as a member of the board of directors of Catalyst Health Solutions, a publicly held pharmacy benefits management company. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Georgetown University and is a certified public accountant.