Brad Phillips will retire as EVP and chief financial officer of Irving-based Darling Ingredients after 36 years with the company, effective June 15, 2025. His position will be filled by current EVP and chief strategy officer Robert Day in February.

Day will assume the post effective on the day after the company files its 2024 Form 10-K, which is expected to occur on Feb. 25, 2025. After that time, Phillips will remain employed until his retirement date to assist Day in his transition to his new role, the company said.

“We extend our deepest gratitude to Brad for his many years of service to Darling Ingredients,” Chairman and CEO Randall C. Stuewe said in a statement. “Brad’s vision, leadership and financial expertise were instrumental in shaping our company into the pillar it is today. From spearheading transformative acquisitions to driving unprecedented growth, Brad’s contributions are woven into every success we’ve achieved. We thank him for his unwavering dedication and wish him all the best in his retirement.”

Sandra Dudley, currently executive vice president, renewables and U.S. specialty operations, will succeed Day as chief strategy officer, under the new title of executive vice president, renewables and chief strategy officer. Carlos Paz will join the company as EVP, global risk management, ingredients.

A pioneer in circularity

Day joined Darling Ingredients in August 2023 as chief strategy officer.

Before that, he was a partner at Ascendant Partners, an investment bank and advisory firm. From 2015 to 2022, Day was with Ceres Global Ag. Corp., where he served as CEO from 2016 to 2022. Prior to that, he was managing director Asia at ED&F Man; and he held a variety of executive and senior management roles with Cargill Inc. in Asia, Latin America, and the United States over a 19-year period.

Dudley joined Darling Ingredients in 2015 and has served as EVP, renewables and U.S. specialty operations since October 2021, overseeing Darling Ingredients’ investment in its Diamond Green Diesel joint venture, as well as the company’s wet pet food, organic fertilizer, bakery feeds, refining and restaurant services businesses. Before Darling Ingredients, from 1998 to 2004, Dudley worked at ConAgra Foods, serving in both strategy and financial roles; and from 2004 to 2015, she worked at Tenaska Marketing Ventures, a top natural gas marketer, where she analyzed long-term deals, developed deal structures and traded natural gas.

In this newly created role, Paz will oversee all risk-taking and trading activities globally, as well as the management and mitigation of risks related to commodity price fluctuations, supply chain disruptions, and market volatility, Darling said. Paz joins Darling Ingredients from Ceres Global Ag. Corp., where he was president and CEO from August 2022 until this month. Prior to joining Ceres, he spent more than 20 years at Cargill, Inc. in a number of leadership roles, where he led trading and merchandising.

A pioneer in circularity, Darling takes material from the animal agriculture and food industries, and transforms them into valuable ingredients that nourish people, feed animals and crops, and fuel the world with renewable energy. Darling operates more than 260 facilities in more than 15 countries and processes about 15% of the world’s animal agricultural by-products, produces about 30% of the world’s collagen (both gelatin and hydrolyzed collagen), and is one of the largest producers of renewable energy.

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