CINCINNATI — Todd Foley has been named interim chief financial officer of The Kroger Co., effective immediately. He succeeds Gary Millerchip, who is stepping down as senior vice president and CFO to take on an executive role at another public company.

Foley is currently group vice president, corporate controller and chief accounting officer at Kroger. He has more than 30 years of finance experience and has been with Kroger since 2001. He has been an architect of Kroger’s financial strategy, including the company’s current “Leading with Fresh, Accelerating with Digital” strategy, the company said.

Prior to joining Kroger he was a certified public accountant and a senior audit manager at PwC.

He received a bachelor’s degree in accounting at the University of Notre Dame, Mendoza College of Business.

“Todd is a proven leader who has served in key finance roles and has contributed meaningfully to Kroger’s growth and transformation over more than 20 years,” said Rodney McMullen, chairman and chief executive officer of Kroger. “Todd is the right person to take the helm and will step in seamlessly to continue advancing our value creation model and maintain a strong financial framework for our company as we plan ahead for our pending merger with Albertsons. At Kroger, we are fortunate to benefit from an incredibly deep bench of talent across our finance team and all levels of our organization as we continue to execute our strategy and generate sustainable returns for our shareholders.”