KJ Names Amanda Hutchinson, PHR as Chief People Officer and Doug Sawyers, PE, as Chief Operating Officer, effective immediately

Kennedy Jenks (KJ) today announced the appointment of two new senior leaders for the employee-owned firm: Amanda Hutchinson, Principal, PHR was named Chief People Officer and Doug Sawyers, Vice President, PE, was named Chief Operating Officer. Both internal promotions, Hutchinson and Sawyers will continue to support the firm’s recent extensive growth in terms of people, services, and markets. 

The growth we are experiencing in our key geographies necessitates we expand our leadership structure and business support services. Demand for critical services that KJ provides in both the municipal and private sectors remains high. Amanda’s focus on people and Doug’s focus on business development and operations will continue to maintain and improve KJ’s experience for both our clients and our staff.

— Keith London, President and CEO of Kennedy Jenks

Hutchinson, based in North Carolina, joined KJ in early 2023 with a focus on hiring and developing top talent into the firm in response to market demand for KJ’s services. In her new role, Hutchinson will oversee all HR, people, and talent functions into one united team. In just seven months, she established a talent acquisition team, hired over 80 new staff, and launched a unified summer internship program.

Hutchinson has a Master of Science in Management and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Florida.

In his new role as Chief Operating Officer, Sawyers is responsible for both Business Development and Operations, focusing on optimizing how we serve our clients, develop our people, and support future growth.

Since joining KJ in 2021, Sawyers has taken on progressively more challenging leadership roles, most recently as the Operations Director for KJ’s Facilities Engineering, Management Consulting, and Remediation and Compliance organizations. In addition, Sawyers supported the establishment of KJ’s geographic expansion in the mid-Atlantic region. With over 30 years of consulting engineering experience with the public and private sectors, he has a deep understanding of how to continually improve client service and operations.

Sawyers is based out of Virginia; he is a licensed Professional Engineer and he has a BS and MS in Civil Engineering from the University of Delaware.