PORTLAND, OR—Kaiser Permanente Northwest has appointed Jay Gusick as executive director of brand strategy, communications and public relations. He will be responsible for brand management, corporate communications, public relations, media relations, community events, and creative services functions, including the expansion of social media and mobile communications strategy. He spent the last two decades at Seattle-based Group Health Cooperative, where he served as the executive director, brand, communications, and public relations.

FARMINGTON HILLS, MI—Technology and services company Bosch has added Linda Beckmeyer as manager of media and public relations for the United States for the company's automotive original equipment business. Prior to joining Bosch, Beckmeyer was founder and president of Momentum Communication, an independent public relations agency. Before starting her own business, she worked for a number of years in the automotive industry at Delphi.

SAN DIEGO—Defense and transportation systems company Cubic Corporation has named Timothy Hill as director of corporate communications and public relations. He has more than 25 years' experience in communications and most recently served as the Dow Chemical global director of communications. Previously he held senior level communications positions at Honeywell Aerospace, Reliance Electric and owned and operated his own marketing communications firms.

WASHINGTON, DC—The National Retail Federation has named Katie Wilson vice president of communications, responsible for NRF advocacy priorities on issues important to the retail community. Wilson joins NRF from the US Chamber of Commerce, where she was senior director of communications and strategy. Earlier, she managed communications activities for the Chamber’s Global Intellectual Property Center and was an associate at Gallatin Public Affairs in Portland, Ore.

MCLEAN, VA—Cognosante, a leading provider of IT services to healthcare organizations, named Eileen Cassidy Rivera as vice president of marketing and communications. Rivera will report to Michele Kang, CEO of Cognosante, and lead the company's marketing, communications and branding programs.
Earlier, she was vice president of communications and investor relations at Vangent, a General Dynamics company, director of public relations at EDS Federal, and worked at Hill & Knowlton.

SAN DIEGO—Bridgepoint Education, a provider of postsecondary education services, has promoted Sheryl Wright to the position of senior vice president of external affairs, in charge of managing the organization's relationships with elected officials and regulatory bodies at the local, state and federal levels. Previously, Wright served as Bridgepoint Education's vice president of government affairs and earlier spent 25 years with Sprint Communications.