Linda Kingsley and Pranab Shah to step down from USPS

The USPS has confirmed that its vice presidents Linda Kingsley and Pranab Shah are to step down. Linda Kingsley is to retire after 26 years at the Postal Service, most recently as vice president of Channel Access.

Pranab Shah, who has been with the USPS for 10 years and was named vice president of Global Business in January 2011, will be leaving this month. He has immediate plans to return to India to spend time with his parents and help them through health issues.

He has not announced any plans beyond that, the Postal Service told Post&Parcel today.

Both vice presidents were part of chief marketing/sales officer Paul Vogel’s team, but the USPS has not yet announced whether they will be replaced or their responsibilities absorbed by existing officers.

Linda Kingsley

Since the start of the new year, Linda Kingsley has been leading on efforts to develop alternative access for consumers and small businesses to USPS products and services.

An engineering graduate from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, she began her career at the Postal Service in 1985 as an industrial engineer trainee in Chicago, Illinois.

Kingsley, who also holds a masters in business administration from the University of Maryland, College Park, rose through the managerial ranks including plant operations and support roles in Maryland and Nevada, before she served at USPS headquarters. At USPS HQ, she worked with major mailer customers to improve mail preparation, and also participated in the nationwide adoption of letter mail sequencing systems at USPS delivery points.

Her rise to the senior ranks of the Postal Service saw her appointed vice president of strategic planning from 2003 to January 2007, when she was appointed senior vice president of strategy and transition until the start of 2011.

In a letter to officers, US Postmaster General Pat Donahoe paid tribute to the “attention to detail, thoroughness, and quest for perfection” Kingsley had demonstrated throughout her career.

He also recognised her leadership in helping develop the strategic direction of the Postal Service through various USPS plans, including last year’s Action Plan.

“Linda’s varied contributions to the Postal Service comprise a legacy that has made her name synonymous with postal strategy,” Donahoe said, wishing her the best for the future.

Pranab Shah

Pranab Shah has been managing the Postal Service’s international business since January 2011, including financial and commercial analysis, commercial network strategy and technology, as well as international relations.

He arrived at the USPS in 2001 from a senior executive position in the private sector, bringing 10 years of international management consulting experience in areas like business strategy, supply chain management and emerging technologies in a range of industries.

With degrees in industrial engineering from Maharaja Sayajiro University and in business administration from the University of Wales in the UK, he started out at the Postal Service as manager of network operations development, overseeing the progression of postal mail processing and transportation networks.

He then became executive director of Global Business Strategy and Technology, while from February 2009 until the start of this year, Shah was vice president and managing director for the USPS Global Business division.

A winner of the Vice Presidents Award in 2006, Shah worked with Paul Vogel to establish and build the Global Business division, leading the expansion of the Express Mail International service into India, France and Singapore, as well as forging key agreements on Global Direct Entry in China, New Zealand, Vietnam and Hong Kong.

Writing to officers, the Postmaster General pointed to Shah’s particular achievements in developing business in China, and the “critical” network modeling and analytics that saw him planting the “seeds of optimization” that “continue to bear fruit”.

Donahoe said: “We can be proud of the excellent caliber of representation that Pranab provided for the US Postal Service at high profile international venues such as the Universal Postal Union and the International Post Corporation, as well as in individual meetings or negotiations with other international Posts – all key to maintaining strong business ties across the globe.”