Accenture U.S. CEO To Step Down

Accenture said Tuesday that Jorge Benitez will step down as Accenture's U.S. chief executive and senior managing director of North America. Benitez, according to the company, will officially retire from Accenture at the end of August.

Although he is vacating his current positions, Accenture said he will continue working with the company and will be "involved in key client relationships and represent Accenture in a number of business forums." Accenture has not named a replacement for Benitez's positions.

The company was unavailable for further comment.

[Related: Accenture's Investment in Liaison Highlights Emergence Of Cloud Brokers ]

Benitez joined Accenture in 1981, which was then called Anderson Consulting, and has spent more than 30 years with the company. He was promoted to his current roles as CEO of Accenture's U.S. business and managing director, North America, in 2011.

Before that, he served as chief operating officer of Accenture's products operating group, which is the largest of the company's five groups, for five years.

According to Accenture, Benitez "played a critical role" during the company's IPO in 2001 as it transitioned to a public company. He also is credited with driving Accenture's growth and expansion in the U.S. and greater North American region.

"Jorge has made a tremendous contribution to Accenture’s growth and success during his 33-year career with our company," said Accenture Chairman and CEO Pierre Nanterme in a prepared statement. "Most recently, leading our business and operations in North America, he has helped drive significant revenue growth in the United States -- our largest market, where we have steadily gained market share in the last three years. Jorge and I have worked together for many years, and I have always admired his passion and energy in serving our clients, our people and our communities. We congratulate him on an outstanding career, and wish him all the best in the future."

Benitez's resignation comes at a pivotal time for Accenture, which was tapped earlier this year by the U.S. federal government to take over the troubled Healthcare.gov website and online insurance exchange.

The company also has made sizeable investments in its cloud services business, including the rollout of the Accenture Cloud Platform last spring and a major investment in cloud services broker Liaison Technologies two weeks ago.

PUBLISHED MAY 6, 2014