Sherilyn McCoy, whose last assignment at Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) has included the the beleaguered McNeil Consumer Health division, is leaving J&J to become CEO of Avon Products on April 26. The veteran J&J executive, who started as a scientist for the company and rose to one of three top positions, was passed over in February to succeed CEO William Weldon. The board instead chose Alex Gorsky, who had become a vice chairman at the same time as McCoy, setting up a horse race for the top position. McCoy joined J&J in 1982. Since 2009, she has overseen J&J's pharmaceutical division and in January 2011 was tasked with sorting out Johnson & Johnson's consumer products issues. A laundry list of manufacturing problems led to the recall of millions of doses of J&J's best known OTC brands such as Tylenol, Benadryl and Motrin. The closure of its Fort Washington, PA, plant followed a 2010 recall of more than 136 million children's and infants' products. At Avon, she faces investor unrest after the company rejected a takeover bid from fragrance maker Coty. Story | More