Umpqua creates chief strategy officer role, hires Rilla Delorier

Rilla Delorier has joined Umpqua Holdings as its first chief strategy officer.

The $24.9 billion-asset Umpqua said Delorier has been charged with uniting the creative, product and technology teams to develop and implement new strategies.

Cort O’Haver, president and chief executive of the Portland, Ore., company, described Delorier as a “strategic and thoughtful leader” who can build on Umpqua's culture and help it evolve. He did not offer any specifics about the new strategies Umpqua has in mind.

Delorier, who spent 10 years at SunTrust before departing in February 2016, had a variety of roles there, including executive vice president of consumer channels and chief marketing officer. She initiated SunTrust’s move to become a purpose-driven company and, years before that, oversaw its early adoption of Twitter for customer service. She has been part of American Banker’s rankings of the Most Powerful Women in Banking multiple times, most recently in 2015.

In an Umpqua press release announcing her hire, Delorier said she is excited to join the company. “Umpqua is one of the financial services industry’s most iconic companies — an organization I’ve admired and studied for years.”