HANOVER, PA.  — Utz Brands, Inc. has named William J. Kelley Jr. as executive vice president, chief financial officer and principal accounting officer, effective May 1. Kelley will succeed Ajay Kataria, who is stepping down from the position.

Kelley joins the snack manufacturer from Tropicana Brands Group, Inc., where he most recently was global chief financial officer. Earlier, he was with TreeHouse Foods as executive vice president and CFO.

He joined TreeHouse in August 2016 as vice president, finance and corporate controller. Kelley also has worked at The Kraft Heinz Co. and PepsiCo, Inc.

“Bill brings deep financial expertise and operational experience across some of the most respected names in food and beverage,” said Howard Friedman, chief executive officer of Utz. “We are excited to welcome him to Utz as we continue executing on our long-term growth strategy. I want to extend our gratitude to Ajay for his leadership and impact over the past eight years, the last four as CFO — his contributions were many, including as part of our public listing in 2020, multiple acquisitions and integrations, as well as a major ERP installation; all were instrumental in building our financial foundation. We wish Ajay all the best.”

Kataria has been the company’s executive vice president and CFO since 2021. Previously, Kataria was executive vice president of finance and accounting. He joined the company in 2017 as senior vice president of finance and treasury.

Prior to Utz, Kataria was vice president of global finance and strategy at Armstrong Flooring, Inc. He has held financial leadership positions with several companies, including Chobani and PepsiCo, Inc.

The company said Mark Schreiber, executive vice president, sales and chief customer officer, is retiring at the end of May. Schreiber will continue to help with the transition until the end of June.

Schreiber joined the company in 2017 and held various sales and marketing leadership roles.

Jeremy Stuart, current senior vice president of large format at Utz, will succeed Schreiber. Stuart has been the senior vice president of sales, large format since August 2023.