Irene Willins has been appointed vice president of finance at California grocer Stater Bros. Markets.
San Bernardino, Calif.-based Stater Bros. said Thursday that Willins, previously senior controller for accounting and finance, will oversee various aspects of the day-to-day financial management of the company, including payroll, accounts payable, budgeting and forecasting, and store-level financial services.
Willins (pictured left) reports to report to Dave Harris, executive vice president of finance, chief financial officer and principal accounting officer.
Stater Bros. noted that Willins’ “team-oriented philosophy and personable demeanor” have helped drive her success as the team lead for several key initiatives, including the selection and implementation of a new human capital management (HCM) software platform, the company’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) project, and the deployment of new point-of-sale (POS) and sales audit-processing systems.
“Irene’s promotion recognizes the important role she has played over the years in helping manage the financial operations of our company,” Stater Bros. CEO Pete Van Helden said in a statement. “I look forward to working with Irene in her role as an important contributor in projects critical to the company achieving its key objectives.”
Willins joined Stater Bros. Markets in 2000 as a financial analyst in the accounting and finance department. She later was promoted to a range of other roles, including assistant controller, controller for retail operations and then to senior controller of accounting and finance, her most recent post. She also serves on the board of directors for Stater Bros. Charities.
The appointment of Willins marks Stater Bros.’ second executive promotion in the past couple of months. In late June, the grocer announced the elevation of Bertha Luna to senior vice president of retail operations. She formerly served as vice president of retail.
Overall, Stater Bros. Markets operates more than 170 supermarkets across Southern California.