Boeing has named Phil Musser as the company’s next senior vice president of communications, succeeding Tom Downey, who has announced plans to step down from the role late this month and retire from the company early next year.

Musser, 45, has more than 20 years of strategic communications and public relations experience, including ten years as a consultant to Boeing.

He is the chairman and chief executive officer of IMGE, an Alexandria, Virginia-based digital communications firm he co-founded in 2013.

He will join Boeing September 25th, reporting to Boeing chairman Dennis Muilenburg and will move into Downey’s place on the company’s executive council.

He will be based in Chicago.

“Phil is a seasoned and highly respected executive who knows Boeing well and brings to us an exceptionally broad and relevant set of communications experiences, capabilities and insights,” said Muilenburg.

“He is a creative, strategic and energetic leader who understands the scale of our brand and how to inspire confidence and support among our many important stakeholders.

“He also has a passion for engaging our people, shaping culture and investing in talent for the future. He is the right choice to lead our world-class communications team into Boeing’s second century,” Muilenburg added.

Downey is the longest-serving Boeing communications chief since the company reshaped itself through a series of mergers and acquisitions in the late 1990s.

During his tenure, he led the company’s integrated communications initiatives, coordinating all internal and external activities to support Boeing’s business strategies.

He successfully guided the company through a wide range of brand and reputation issues, including challenging new commercial jetliner programs, major defence and space campaigns, multiple plant site selections, labour negotiations, and the US trade case against illegal European airplane subsidies.

He also was the architect of the company’s 2016 centennial program.