Butterball has promoted its senior vice president and general counsel, adding chief risk officer to Suzanne Griffin's title.

Griffin joined the Garner, North Carolina-based company as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary in 2012. Her new role is designed to “align the company's risk management initiatives across all departments,” according to a company statement announcing her promotion emailed to Corporate Counsel.

In her new role, Griffin, who could not immediately be reached for comment, will oversee environmental and workplace safety management and provide oversight for other risk-related issues, the statement said. The company's corporate environmental manager and senior director of workplace safety and risk management will now report directly to Griffin, it added.

Further information from a Butterball representative as to why the company created the role at this time was not immediately available. However, Jay Jandrain, Butterball's president and CEO, said in the statement that given the complexity of the business, “we feel there is a need to centralize various areas of risk management under one umbrella.” He praised Griffin's job providing consultative support in these areas.

The largest maker of turkey products in the U.S., Butterball announced last month that it was recalling 39 tons of ground turkey products due to potential salmonella contamination.

Before joining Butterball, Griffin was a partner in Poyner Spruill's financial services and real estate groups, according to her LinkedIn profile. She also held in-house roles at RBC Bank and ContiGroup Cos., now Continental Grain Co., it said.

“Our industry-leading workplace safety and environmental records will continue to be top priorities for our company and will only be enhanced under Suzanne's leadership,” Jandrain said in the statement.

Griffin earned her law degree from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law.