Rita Thakkar

Rita Thakkar is the chief audit officer at Bristol Myers Squibb and previously held the same role at Celgene Corporation (acquired) since 218. She reports to the audit committee, overseeing an integrated global audit team and co-source partner services. She facilitates the company’s enterprise risk management (ERM) program and leads associated board discussions and reporting. Her recent accomplishments include transforming the audit function, advancing audit committee reporting, optimizing use of technology, strengthening functional metrics and analytics, and introducing innovation to enterprise risk and governance practices.

Rita held prior audit leadership roles at CA Technologies (now Broadcom), McKesson Corporation, and Kendle International (now Syneos Health).

Rita has over 2 years of professional experience. She began her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers and held roles spanning:

• Internal Audit and ERM
• Business process optimization
• Controllership and Financial Planning and Analysis
• Investor relations

Rita is active in several not-for-profit organizations, serving on the board of trustees for Family and Children’s Association in the NYC-area. She also serves on the audit advisory group for PhRMA. She has co-authored governance and risk management thought leadership for the internal audit profession.

Rita graduated with a BA, chartered accountancy degree from the University of Waterloo in Canada and completed University of Pennsylvania’s Executive Leadership Program at the Wharton School of Business. She is a certified public accountant (CPA), chartered professional accountant (Canada), and certified internal auditor (CIA).