Industrial Executive & Board Moves

Industrial Executive Moves

ABB

• ABB announced the appointment of Giampiero Frisio as the new President of its Electrification Business Area and Brandon Spencer as the new President of its Motion Business Area. Both will take over their new roles and join ABB’s Executive Committee in August 2024.

ALSO

• ALSO completed its succession planning: Wolgang Krainz is appointed as new CEO. He succeeds Gustavo Möller-Hergt, who continues to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

• Of the newly appointed Group Management Board, Tom Brunner will be responsible for sales in the Consumer sector across all regions. Jan Bogdanovich left his Chief Technology Officer role to assume a Managing Director role for Commercial.

• As newly appointed Chief Operating Officer, Thomas Meyerhans will assume responsibility for the Logistics division in addition to the areas of Legal and Human Resources.

• Finally, Ingo Adolphs, new Chief Technology Officer, is responsible for the technical development of the digital platforms as well as business intelligence and the group-wide ERP.

Avaloq

• Avaloq has announced that its co-CEO, Thomas Beck, is retiring and will therefore be stepping down from his position at the company following a three-year tenure, effective immediately. Its other co-CEO, Martin Greweldinger, will assume the position of sole group CEO, starting April 2024.

Calida

• Calida has found a new head for its main brand: Irem Aydin will take over this role in July 2024. With her, Calida has found an internal successor to Alexandra Helbling, whose resignation was announced in January.

Dätwyler

• Volker Cwielong has started a role as CEO in beginning of April 2024.

• Judith van Walsum was appointed new CFO and Head of the Group function Finance & Shared Services. She succeeds Walter Scherz, who has joined Franke as new CFO.

Digitalswitzerland

• Andreas Meyer, ex-CEO of SBB, became the new President of the location initiative, which aims to make Switzerland a leading digital nation. He succeeds Sascha Zahnd. Meyer also sits on various boards of directors: he is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Zurich-based AI company Starmind.

DocMorris

• The Board of Directors of DocMorris appointed Daniel Wüest to succeed Marcel Ziwica as CFO. Daniel Wüest will take over his new role starting October 2024. Ziwica will leave the company at his own request at the end of the year in order to reorient himself professionally after 23 years. Wüest has spent the last five years as Group CFO of the listed building supplier Arbonia.

dormakaba

• The Board of Directors of dormakaba has appointed Carsten Franke as Chief Operations Officer and member of the Executive Committee effective August 2024. He has an outstanding track record of driving companies towards operational excellence by optimizing the production structure and supply chain as well as improving the performance of manufacturing facilities and procurement.

Emmi

• CFO and Member of Group Management Sacha D. Gerber has decided to leave the Emmi Group for personal reasons. Due to the sensitive nature of the role, he is stepping down with immediate effect.

• Former Head Group Controlling & Investor Relations Oliver Wasem will be appointed as the new CFO and Member of Group Management in July 2024.

Energiedienst

• The company announced that Jörg Reichert will leave his role as CEO by the end of 2024 at the latest. Reichert will become the new head of the distribution network operator Netze BW, which, like Energiedienst, is part of the EnBW Group.

Fenaco

• Change of leadership in the Executive Board of Fenaco: Michael Feitknecht will become CEO of the Fenaco cooperative with effect from July 2025.

Galenica

• Daniel Bühler has taken over as Head of the Pharmapool Business sector at Galenica as of June 2024. Bühler has held various specialist and management positions within the Galenica Group since 2015, most recently as Head of Projects & Services in the Pharmacies Business sector.

Idorsia

• Jean-Paul Clozel retired as CEO. Meanwhile, André C. Muller is to take over the role of CEO as of June 2024. Muller has served as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Idorsia since its foundation and has taken the lead in the company's Business Development initiatives in recent years.

Interroll

• Interroll announces the appointment of Ayhan Demirel as its new COO. He will join Interroll in October 2024.

Inventx

• Pascal Keller, CEO of Inventx AG, will be leaving the company at the end of June to pursue new challenges. The departure is by mutual agreement between Pascal Keller and the owners Gregor Stücheli and Hans Nagel. Stücheli will take over the operational management of the company, which he and Nagel founded in 2010, on an interim basis.

Klingenberg

• After 20 years as CEO, Group CEO and member of the Board of Directors Jan Klingelnberg will concentrate fully on his duties on the company's Board of Directors as September 2024. Meanwhile, Philipp Kannengiesser, previously Chief Operating Officer, will take over his role as CEO.

Kongsberg Automotive

• Kongsberg Automotive appointed Christian Johansson as new CFO, effective June 2024. He succeeds Frank Heffter, who has decided to leave KA to pursue opportunities outside the organization. Johansson has over 30 years of extensive international experience in global industrial and automotive companies, including over a decade-long senior leadership role at Volvo Group as the CFO of Volvo Trucks.

Läderach

• Yvonne Breier will take up her new position as Chief Marketing Officer in September 2024. She brings with her extensive experience in the industry: after holding various positions at Lindt & Sprüngli, she was Head of Marketing and a member of the Executive Board at Kägi for several years. She succeeds Patrick Farinato, who left the company at the end of February.

• Barbara Wieser will join Läderach in August 2024 from her own HR consulting firm. She will be responsible for HR, corporate communications and sustainability management. Her position on the Executive Board has been newly created to better reflect the increasing importance of these core topics.

LEM

• CFO Andrea Borla will step down at the end of November 2024 after nine years as Chief Financial Officer and Member of the Executive Board. He is leaving LEM to pursue a next career step with a renowned worldwide leading and privately held Swiss company.

Lonza

• The Board of Directors of Lonza announced in April that Wolfgang Wienand has been appointed CEO and will join the company during the summer of 2024.

• Albert M. Baehny left a role as Interim CEO in May 2024.

MCH

• Eleonora Gennari will join the MCH Group team as the new Group CFO in July 2024. In her role, she will also be a member of the Executive Board and the Group Management Team. Gennari succeeds Michael Hüsler, who has held the position since January 2021 and has decided to take on a new professional challenge.

Medela

• Medela announced the appointment of Thomas Golücke as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective July 2024. Golücke will succeed Annette Brüls, who has held the position successfully since 2018 and now decided to take on a new role outside of Medela.

Medmix

• Girts Cimermans resigned from his role as CEO in April 2024 with immediate effect. Following this event, René Willi was unanimously elected as the new CEO by the Board of Directors of Medmix, effective from June 2024.

Medartis

• Medartis announces that its CEO, Christoph Brönnimann, has decided to step down from his position and leave the company to pursue other opportunities. Brönnimann will continue to lead Medartis until a successor is found. He will continue to focus on the implementation of the corporate strategy and will work to ensure a smooth transition to the new to the new leadership.

• The CHRO, Anthony Durieux-Menage, has decided to leave the company by the end of March 2024 to pursue a new professional challenge outside the orthopedics industry. He will be seamlessly succeeded by Inge Maes, who brings over 20 years of experience in the life sciences industry from her work in clinical development as well as leading HR positions at Sandoz and Novartis.

Migros

• The orange giant has parted ways with one of its main managers at the end of March 2024. Raphael Gugerli had been head of the industrial subsidiary Delica for almost three years.

• Migros has found a new Chief Transformation Officer. Thomas Eisele will take over the role at the beginning of November and will then also become a member of the Executive Board of the Federation of Migros Cooperatives. Eisele succeeds Matthias Wunderlin, who took over as Head of Migros Industry at the end of last year. The 49-year-old Eisele has worked for the Valora kiosk group since 2008, spending the last ten years as CEO of the Food Service division.

Nespresso

• Nespresso appoints Philipp Navratil as Global CEO amid Nestlé leadership reshuffle. Navratil will move from Nestlé’s Coffee Strategic Business Unit to Nespresso in July 2024, when current CEO Guillaume Le Cunff will depart the coffee pod giant to lead Nestlé’s European division.

Postfinance

• There will be a change in the Executive Board at Postfinance in the coming year. Kurt Fuchs will relinquish his CFO position at the end of May 2025. Fuchs, who is currently acting as interim CEO of Postfinance, is also CFO of the Swiss Post subsidiary. Hansruedi Köng stepped down as Head of Postfinance at the end of February. His successor Beat Röthlisberger will take over as CEO in July 2024.

Richemont

• The Board of Richemont appointed Nicolas Bos, currently Chief Executive of Van Cleef & Arpels, to the re-established role of Chief Executive Officer of Richemont effective June 2024.

• Jérôme Lambert steps down from the CEO role but remains on the Board and will continue in the Group as Chief Operating Officer, reporting to Bos, effective June 2024.

Ringier

• The Ringier publishing house appointed Marieke Bos-van den Berg as its new Chief People Officer, placing her in charge of human resources. She will take up the post in August 2024, succeeding Christoph Haldi. She will also become a member of the Executive Board.

SBB

• Markus Jordi, member of the SBB Group Executive Board and Head of Human Resources, will become the new President of the University Council of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland in January 2025. He will relinquish his current role at SBB as soon as his successor takes over the position. Jordi will work at SBB on a maximum 50 percent basis in future and will continue to manage individual dossiers.

Schindler

• As of July 2024, Danilo Calabrò will join the Group Executive Committee and will take over the responsibility for Europe South. He will succeed Julio Arce who has decided to step down from the Group Executive Committee and leave the company for personal reasons. Danilo Calabrò has been working at Schindler since 2008 and held various leadership positions in operations. He has been serving as CEO of Schindler Italy since 2020.

• Effective October 2024, Vikén Martarian will be appointed to the Group Executive Committee, responsible for the Americas. He joined Schindler in 2017 and has held various leadership positions in Sweden and the U.S.

Schneider Electric

• Marco Geiser took over the role of Vice President Service DACH at Schneider Electric in April 2024. He joined the tech group in 2022 as Service Director Switzerland to strengthen the Schneider Electric Switzerland and Service DACH management teams.

Siegfried

• Dr. Wolfgang Wienand has left a role as CEO in May 2024. Meanwhile, Dr. Reto Suter added a role as Interim CEO to his CFO responsibilities.

SIG

• Isabelle Riege has started a role as Chief People & Culture Officer at SIG. She succeeds Suzanne Verzijden. Riege is a German citizen and joined SIG in January 2023. She has many years of international HR experience in various senior HR management positions in automotive, food & ingredients, HR services, and engineering industries.

Similasan

• Urs Lehmann is handing over the role of Managing Director to Jure Batur after 16 years. Batur has been with Similasan since 2009 and has been CFO and COO since 2015.

SoftwareOne

• SoftwareOne announced that Raphael Erb has been appointed Chief Revenue Officer and member of the Executive Board. He will succeed Rohit Nagarajan, who has decided to leave the company. Erb is with SoftwareOne since 25 years. Prior to his current role as President Asia Pacific - SoftwareOne's fastest growing region - he was Head of the Services business in the German-speaking region.

Sonova

• Lilika Beck, currently Managing Director Connect Hearing Canada in the Audiological Care division, will succeed Martin Grieder as Group Vice President Consumer Hearing, following a tragic accident at the beginning of April 2024.

• Oliver Lux, currently Managing Director Audiological Care Germany, will be appointed Group Vice President Audiological Care, succeeding Christophe Fond, who will pursue a career opportunity outside the hearing care industry after leading Sonova’s Audiological Care business for seven years.

• Alistair Simpson will join the company as Group Vice President Cochlear Implants to succeed Victoria Carr-Brendel, who has decided to retire from executive roles for personal reasons after leading Sonova’s Cochlear Implants business since 2019. The appointments will become effective in June.

StarragTornos

• Michael Hauser hands over operational management of the machine tool manufacturer to Martin Buyle on July 2024. In addition to his new role as CEO of the Group, Buyle will continue to act as CEO of the Starrag division. Hauser, who since the merger of Starrag and Tornos has been both CEO and President of the machine tool manufacturer, is concentrating on his role as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Swatch

• The Board of Directors of the Swatch group has elected two new members to the Executive Group Management Board. Damiano Casafina and Sylvain Dolla have been appointed to the Group's top management body. Casafina is currently head of the production company ETA. Dolla is CEO of the Tissot brand and was previously a member of the Group's Extended Group Management Board. Both will take office in September.

SWISS

• Swiss has found a successor for CEO Dieter Vranckx. Jens Fehlinger will take over as CEO in October 2024. The 43-year-old Fehlinger is currently Managing Director of Lufthansa City Airlines. The German national began his professional career as a pilot and has held various management positions at the Lufthansa Group.

Swiss Steel

• Marco Portmann has decided to leave Swiss Steel Group after more than 19 years, for personal reasons. He was appointed to the Executive Board as Chief Financial Officer in April 2022. Thomas Löhr was appointed as the new CFO and member of the Executive Board effective June 2024. Löhr has been CFO and Spokesman of the Executive Board of the Swiss Steel Group subsidiary Deutsche Edelstahlwerke Services since November 2023.

Tecan

• Dr. Klaus Lun, Head of the Life Sciences Business Division since 2017 and member of the Group Executive Committee since 2013, has decided to leave the company to pursue other professional opportunities. His successor, Mukta Acharya, currently President, Tecan Americas, has been appointed as the new Head of the Life Sciences Business Division and member of the Tecan Group Executive Committee. She is expected to take up her new position in August 2024.

Temenos

• Temenos announced the appointment of Jean-Pierre Brulard as CEO of the Company, effective in May 2024. Andreas Andreades will retire from Temenos after 25 years of dedicated service, including 11 years as Executive Chairman and, since January 2023, taking on the role of CEO during the Board’s extended search for a replacement.

TX Group

• Sandro Macciacchini, member of the Executive Management and Chief Operating Officer with responsibility for Group Services Finance, HR, Legal, IT and Real Estate, has decided to leave the Group, the company announced. He will hand over his function to Tanja zu Waldeck will join the Group as Chief Operations Officer in October 2024 and provide the framework for the media activities.

• Meanwhile, Daniel Mönch, Chief Strategy Officer, changed role to Chief Portfolio Officer, and will be responsible for the Group's investments, ventures and real estate.

Wincasa

• As of January 2025, Urs Ringgenberg will become Chief Financial Officer. The experienced finance and IT expert will take over from Stefan F. Meier and join the Wincasa Executive Board in this role.

Contact

Dominik Brülisauer
Russell Reynolds Associates
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dominik.bruelisauer@russellreynolds.com