JPM JP Morgan Chase and Co

By Jared Council 

JPMorgan Chase & Co. created a new chief information officer position that is focused on building and improving technology used by its internal workforce, and promoted a technologist to fill the role.

James Reid was named CIO of the bank's new employee experience and corporate technology organization, effective immediately, according to an internal memo written by the bank's global CIO, Lori Beer.

Mr. Reid, who joined the bank in 2019, was previously head of the corporate technology division's engineering and architecture team. In his new role he will report to Ms. Beer and oversee efforts that include building a "seamless and unified digital interface" across common employee-facing technologies, according to the memo.

"The technology we build, support and implement is critical to the way the firm operates and to our employees' ability to effectively and efficiently perform their jobs," Ms. Beer said in the memo. "Our unwavering focus on employee experience and workplace technology also has a direct impact on the productivity, performance and satisfaction of the 250,000 [plus] firmwide employees."

Also Friday, Melissa Goldman was named CIO for the recently reorganized finance, risk, data and controls technology unit. Ms. Goldman was previously CIO of corporate technology, in which her duties included leading the capabilities that would become the new employee experience unit under Mr. Reid.

She was named chief data officer last fall, a title that she will retain.

Ms. Goldman joined the bank in 2014 and previously spent 20 years at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in several technology leadership positions.

Mr. Reid, before joining JPMorgan, worked at Equifax Inc. for 17 years, a tenure that included serving as senior vice president of core software engineering. In his new role, he is tasked with building and maintaining technology systems related to human resources, diversity and inclusion, legal, and corporate responsibility, according to the memo.

Mr. Reid is the first Black CIO at the bank and the first Black member of the technology leadership team that reports to Ms. Beer, a spokesperson with the bank said. Chase last year said it was committing $30 billion to advance racial equity, including building a more diverse and inclusive workforce.

Write to Jared Council at jared.council@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 07, 2021 19:04 ET (23:04 GMT)

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