A person who held a position or role immediately before the current holder; the predecessor in a job or post.
会社の前任者から引き継ぎを受けた。
I received a handover from the company's predecessor.
前任者はこのプロジェクトを始めた人物だ。
The predecessor was the person who started this project.
新しい部署では前任者と連絡を取ることになった。
In the new department I was supposed to get in touch with the previous person in charge.