PCAOB appoints Randy Thornton as chief operating officer

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) in the US has appointed Randy Thornton as its chief operating officer (COO).

Prior to this confirmation, Thornton had been serving as acting COO since July 2025 and as chief human resources (HR) officer since December 2022.

In the COO role, he will oversee the office of HR, the office of finance, the office of technology, the enterprise strategy and the project management office.

Thornton is also responsible for the facilities and operations department.

PCAOB chairman Demetrios Logothetis said: “The PCAOB has benefitted greatly from Randy’s leadership and deep operational expertise.

“We are fortunate to have Randy as our COO as we work to modernise the PCAOB’s operations through innovation and careful stewardship of our resources.”

Thornton joined the PCAOB in August 2022 as deputy director for HR Delivery.

Previously, he spent four years at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as chief of management services for the CIO Organisation.

From 2011 to 2018, he worked at the US Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Fiscal Service, as Human Capital officer and HR director.

Thornton has also served as associate chief financial officer at the US Environmental Protection Agency and previously worked at the US Department of Labor.

Thornton said: “I thank Chairman Logothetis and the Board for this opportunity to oversee the talented and multifaceted teams that comprise the office of the chief operating officer.

“Our office is as focused as ever on supporting our colleagues across the organisation and helping the PCAOB to succeed in its investor-protection mission.”

In March this year, the PCAOB created an Audit Practitioner Fellowship Programme within its chief auditor’s office.