Pitney Bowes has appointed Joe Schmitt as vice president and chief information officer of the company. Mr. Schmitt was also elected an officer of the company. He will report to Kevin Connolly, vice president, Global Client Services. Mr. Schmitt succeeds Greg Buoncontri, who recently retired from Pitney Bowes.

In his new role, Mr. Schmitt will lead information technology strategies and teams worldwide. He will have a particular focus on developing and deploying an innovative information and IT infrastructure for the company, including all data and technical service centers, communications networks (both voice and data), and enterprise software applications, says Pitney Bowes.

Mr. Schmitt previously held CIO positions at Steward Health Care System and Cerberus Capital Management. He started his career with Accenture, and then spent twelve years in roles of increasing responsibility at General Electric.

Mr. Schmitt graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with Bachelor of Science degrees in economics and industrial management.