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In 2023, Amentum announced its merger with Jacobs Solutions’ critical mission solutions and cyber and intelligence business. The merger would add 20,000 employees to Kimberly Young’s purview as SVP of total rewards at Amentum. The merged organization would total more than 50,000 employees in eighty countries.
The merger technically concluded in 2024, but Young and her team continue to evolve, tweak, and refine the merging of two large companies. “The overall scope and size of my role has expanded significantly,” Young says. “It’s been interesting, exciting, but also very challenging. We haven’t fully integrated as one organization quite yet, but we’re on that journey.”
It’s not the first time Young has managed a company acquisition. Amentum has been through the process multiple times, but this merger is one of the more complex. The integration process includes 7,000 international employees whose benefits and systems have to be integrated and formalized.
Young says Amentum is still working through a system-wide process harmonization, including moving Jacobs employees off their workday and payroll systems, exporting data, and integrating them into Amentum’s environment. Throughout 2025, Young says that process will continue, as will efforts to harmonize benefits. The extensive process, the SVP explains, will be a cross-functional lift for multiple parts of Amentum.
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Making a Merger Work
The integration involves bringing together not only technical systems but also company cultures. Young says Amentum’s culture and engagement teams have conducted culture surveys. They use employee feedback to examine each organization’s strengths and create a unified culture.
“Our culture surveys gauge how employees feel about the cadence of this process, the integration, their leadership, communications, and if they feel like a part of a greater organization,” Young says. “We have a whole team dedicated to culture and engagement because we understand how critical it is to ensure a successful integration of these two companies.”
As Amentum grows, Young is also using the company’s expanded size to refine the benefits offerings. After doing a company-wide “pulse check” to identify gaps that employees want filled, she is working to deliver a balanced range of benefits that cover a variety of matters such as financial, physical and emotional well-being. Maintaining that balance requires building relationships with vendors and outside providers she can trust.
“Especially when you’re going through an integration, you have to align yourself with seasoned consultants who know the process and understand the importance of tracking costs,” the SVP says.
Additionally, Young says organization is paramount. The executive highlights the importance of identifying key resources cross-functionally and tracking deadlines and milestones.
“The key to this [integration] is good consultants, organization, detailed project plans, and sticking to them,” Young sums up.
“We’re proud to be a part of Kimberly’s vision and success for benefits transformation and stability in her organization,” says Carey McKenzie, chief strategy officer at Businessolver. “We’ve had incredible opportunities to partner with her and her team to drive harmony and stability across Amentum’s employee experience.”
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
Integration aside, Young wants all Amentum employees to have the tools and resources they need to manage their own health and well-being. Young’s team routinely reviews employee engagement with benefits and services and tweaks accordingly.
“We want to know if we’re hitting the mark or if there is some kind of obstacle that is reducing utilization,” Young explains. “Sometimes having so much can be overwhelming, and you just give up. That’s why we focus so much on communication.”
To keep employees informed, Young’s team introduced a regular “Well-Being Wire” newsletter that focuses on well-being initiatives and benefits available to all employees. It educates employees about benefits they might not even know they have. Other times, employees’ needs have evolved, and the organization adjusts accordingly.
The SVP’s own evolution, she says, has benefited greatly from great leaders, great mentors, and great opportunities.
“Over the course of my career, I’ve had great leaders above me who offered me the opportunity to grow through special projects that I’ve demonstrated my ability to handle,” Young explains. “In my own leadership, it’s incredibly important to establish a level of camaraderie and professionalism so that you can work through challenges. We’re not working in silos. We depend on each other for success. That teamwork is the key to success for any organization I’ve ever been part of.”
A Lifetime of Relationships
The relationship Young has built with both current and past coworkers is evident, even in her interview with AHL. Over her shoulder, a bookshelf that runs the entire length of a wall is packed with pictures of coworkers, friends, family, and mentees from Young’s church whom Young stays in touch with.
“I value those relationships and have kept them going throughout the years,” Young says. “These people have made me who I am, and I love them dearly.”
Anthem is dedicated to improving whole health for individuals and communities by addressing physical, behavioral, and social needs. We put the people we serve at the center of all we do to exceed expectations and optimize health outcomes. Anthem is proud to partner with Kimbery Young and Amentum to help transform healthcare through innovation within the benefits/wellness space, drive engagement and employee motivation, and overall initiatives to reduce costs. Together, we are working to reduce healthcare disparities and create a healthier, more equitable future. We are aligned with Kimberly’s focus on whole health and passion for mental health.
Businessolver partners with businesses to transform their benefits. Our market-leading technology delivers empathetic service by responding directly to our clients’ needs—and helping them prepare for the future of work, HR, and benefits. We help our clients develop and administer modern benefits programs designed to engage employees, drive better wellbeing outcomes, minimize risk, and maximize healthcare and benefits investment. Founded by HR professionals, Businessolver’s unwavering service-oriented culture and secure SaaS platform provide measurable success in its mission to provide complete client delight.
Gallagher is one of the leading insurance brokerage, risk management, and HR and benefits consulting companies in the world. We are proud to be a strategic partner of Amentum, supporting its mission to drive progress in science, security, and sustainability. Anchored by a shared commitment to inclusion and wellbeing, we collaborate with Amentum to help its talented workforce stay focused on tackling global challenges through innovation and technology. Together, we push boundaries and create meaningful impact for people around the world. Congratulations to Kimberly Young—an inspiring force behind Amentum’s success—for her outstanding leadership and vision.
