MINNEAPOLIS: Medtronic has hired Lenovo Group’s Torod Neptune as SVP and chief communications officer, effective February 1. 

Neptune will report to Medtronic CEO Geoff Martha and serve as a member of the company’s executive committee while leading global communications and corporate marketing for the Dublin-based medical device maker.  

Neptune is planning to relocate from North Carolina to Medtronic’s headquarters in Minneapolis in 2022. 

He will replace Rob Clark, who left Medtronic to join ExxonMobil as head of global communications in September 2020. Since then, VP of corporate communications Marguerite Copel has served as interim chief communications officer. 

Neptune is currently worldwide group VP and chief communications officer at Lenovo Group, where he and his team are responsible for worldwide brand and product communications for personal computers, smart devices and tablets and Motorola smartphones. Reporting to the CMO, Neptune is also in charge of the company’s external, internal and executive communications; international public affairs; crisis and issues management; financial communications; social media; direct-to-consumer marketing; digital marketing and sponsorships.

Charlotte West, executive director of global corporate communications, will serve as interim chief communications officer at Lenovo. 

Neptune’s “deep knowledge of the Chinese consumer” uniquely positions him to support Medtronic’s efforts in the country, according to an internal memo Martha sent to staffers.

The company has manufacturing and research facilities in China that employ nearly 7,000 people, according to CNBC. Medtronic posted an 0.8% as-reported and 1.5% organic revenue drop to $7.6 billion in its fiscal Q2 2021, which ended on October 30, 2020. 

Representatives from Lenovo and Medtronic were not immediately available for comment. Neptune was also not immediately available for comment.  

Before joining Lenovo in 2017, Neptune worked at Verizon, overseeing communications for the company’s business units and managing a global staff. He has also led WE’s global public affairs practice and oversaw the Seattle, Beijing, Brussels, and Washington, DC, offices.

Previously, he was director of strategic and crisis communications for the U.S. House of Representatives, SVP of global corporate marketing and communications at Bank of America and group director at Powell Tate.

Neptune has been named to PRWeek’s Power List several times, most recently in 2020.

This story first appeared on PRWeek US.