Chief Executive Officer
Shelley Huff is the Chief Executive Officer of Serta Simmons Bedding (SSB). Under Shelley’s leadership, SSB is focused on driving forward its mission to help people sleep better and live healthier lives.
Shelley joined SSB in July 2020 as Executive Vice President of Direct to Consumer (DTC) and CEO of Tuft & Needle, was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in April 2021 and was named CEO effective December 2021. Shelley also serves on the Board of Directors of Dawn Holdings, Inc., SSB’s parent company.
Shelley came to SSB after spending more than 15 years in the retail industry, most recently serving as President and CEO of Hayneedle.com, a Walmart-owned online home furnishings destination. Prior to that, Shelley held a variety of leadership roles within Walmart’s U.S. division and at Walmart eCommerce, including serving as the Vice President of Operations at Walmart eCommerce, General Manager of Home and Apparel at Walmart.com and Vice President of Housewares at Walmart U.S.
A native Arizonan, Shelley serves on the Board of Trustees at the University of Arizona, and as the Chair of the Alumni Council. She is also a passionate advocate for public education and endowed the Shelley Huff Scholarship for the Dependents of Teachers at the University of Arizona. In addition, Shelley is an investor in the digital fashion company DressX.
Shelley earned her bachelor’s degree in retailing and consumer sciences from the University of Arizona and her master’s degree from the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas.
Chief Technology Officer
Shoukat Ali Bhamani is the Chief Technology Officer of Serta Simmons Bedding (SSB). In this role, Shoukat is responsible for both the company’s internal technology systems and direct-to-consumer platforms.
Shoukat came to SSB from Schaeffler Group, a global manufacturer and distributor of automotive, industrial and aerospace products, where he spent more than 25 years in a variety of technology leadership roles, including R&D, Product innovation and Customer Programs. Serving as the company’s Chief Information and Digital Officer at Schaeffler, Shoukat transformed a decentralized IT organization into a unified high-performing team, orchestrated a series of supply chain and business process improvements and successfully introduced digital transformation to the organization. Additionally, he has led major operations and programs across multiple platforms and business units in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Japan and Germany.
Shoukat is active in community social work and industry associations including serving on the Advisory Board of HMG Strategy and CharlotteCIO. He was recently recognized as CIO of the Year ® ORBiE ® Award by InspireCIO.
Shoukat received a bachelor and master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a master’s degree in Business Administration from Case Western Reserve University.
Chief Financial Officer
John Linker is the Chief Financial Officer of Serta Simmons Bedding (SSB). In this role, John is responsible for all of SSB’s financial functions, inclusive of accounting, operations and commercial finance, financial planning and analysis, internal audit, tax and treasury. He also oversees the sourcing and strategy teams.
John joined SSB in April 2022, bringing more than 25 years of finance leadership experience to the company. He came to SSB from JELD-WEN Holding, Inc., a leading global manufacturer of windows and doors, where he most recently served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. While at JELD-WEN, John led 15 acquisitions, coordinated the company’s initial public offering, and built a high-performing team.
Prior to JELD-WEN, John held corporate development and finance leadership roles in the Aerospace Systems Division of United Technologies Corporation and its predecessor Goodrich Corporation. Earlier in his career, John was an investment banker with Wells Fargo Securities and a consultant for Accenture.
John serves on the board of directors of HC Government Realty Trust, a real estate investment trust focused on federally leased properties. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and international studies from Duke University and a master’s degree in business administration from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.
Chief Legal Officer & Secretary
Kristen McGuffey was named Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary for Serta Simmons Bedding (SSB) in 2011 and Chief Legal Officer & Secretary in 2020. Kristen is responsible for providing legal counsel to the Serta, Beautyrest, Simmons and Tuft & Needle brands.
Kristen joined Simmons in November 2001 as Vice President, General Counsel & Assistant Secretary. Over the next ten years she served in positions of increasing responsibility including Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary in August 2002 and Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary of Simmons beginning March 2007.
Prior to joining Simmons, Kristen was Executive Vice President, General Counsel at Viewlocity, a global supply chain management software company. Before this role, she was a Partner at Morris, Manning & Martin in the Technology Law Practice. Kristen spent her early legal career as an associate at the firm of the Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker working on matters pertaining to complex litigation, white collar crime, and general corporate law.
She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Kettering Institute (formerly GMI Engineering Management Institute), a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School, and is a member of the State Bar of Georgia
Chief Human Resources Officer
Esther Ni is the Chief Human Resources Officer of Serta Simmons Bedding (SSB). In this role, Esther is responsible for all human resources functions including compensation and benefits, diversity, equity and inclusion, employee culture and engagement, leadership development, organizational design and talent management. She joined SSB in 2019 and has held a variety of leadership roles most recently serving as Senior Vice President of HR for the company’s operations division.
Esther came to SSB from Acuity Brands, an industrial technology company that provides lighting solutions, where she served as Vice President of HR among other HR leadership roles. Esther began her career in HR working at Target and General Mills.
Esther earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
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