WASHINGTON, DC—Tait Sye, former media director at Planned Parenthood, has joined the Department for Health & Human Services as deputy assistant secretary for public affairs, with responsibility for communications involving the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. At Planned Parenthood, Sye was involved in the organization’s defense of an HHS rule requiring that contraception be covered by most employers’ insurance policies.

SAN FRANCISCO—Rosabel Tao (pictured) has been named senior vice president, communications, for CBS Interactive. Tao will oversee all global external and internal communications and public relations efforts for CBS Interactive and its portfolio of brands, including CBS.com, CBSNews.com, CBSSports.com, CNET, GameSpot, and TV.com. Before joining CBS, Tao founded and led a private communications consulting practice and earlier served as the senior vice president of global corporate communications at Myspace and Myspace Music.

WASHINGTON, DC—The United States Institute of Peace has named Linda Jamison acting executive vice president for external affairs, taking over from newly confirmed Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Tara Sonenshine. Jamison will oversee outreach to other federal agencies, Congress, and nongovernmental organizations. She recently served in the White House as special assistant to President Obama, and led the team responsible for hiring and recruiting political appointees for the national security agencies of the US government. Before joining the Obama Administration, Jamison was the founding dean of the Abshire-Inamori Leadership Academy at the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington, DC.

NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA—Balfour Beatty Capital Group has appointed Maureen Omrod as corporate communications director, responsible for developing a media strategy for the organization and ensuring sound relationships and communication with all internal and external stakeholders. Omrod comes to Balfour Beatty from Day & Zimmermann, a diversified international company providing engineering and construction services, staffing and HR services, and defense-related contracting for commercial and government customers, where she served as director of corporate communications.

LOS ANGELES—Joe Schlosser has joined Shine America, known for reality shows such as The Biggest Loser and scripted programming such as The Office, as senior vice president of communications, a newly-created position overseeing corporate branding, trade and consumer media relations, programming publicity, events and talent relations. He joins Shine America after 10 years at NBC, most recently as senior vice president, NBC Entertainment Television publicity.