Executive Committee
The Executive Committee consists of the Executive Chair, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), the Chief Human Resources Officer, the Division President Services, the Division President Flow and the Division President Chemtech.
The Board of Directors delegates executive management powers to the Executive Chair. The Executive Chair delegates the appropriate powers to the members of the Executive Committee (EC). The Division Presidents define and attain business targets for their respective divisions in accordance with group-wide goals. The Board of Directors and Organization Regulations govern, among other things, the transfer of responsibilities from the Board of Directors to the Executive Chair and the EC. There are no management contracts with third parties. None of the Executive Committee members has a contract with a notice period exceeding 12 months. The members of the Executive Committee and their CVs can be viewed below. Effective October 1, 2024, Uwe Boltersdorf, who served as the President of the Chemtech Division stepped down from his role. He was succeeded by Tim Schulten, previously President of the Services Division. In turn, Ravin Pillay-Ramsamy succeeded Tim Schulten as Division President Services.1 Details on the former members of the Executive Committee can be found in the Corporate Governance chapter of the company’s Annual Report 2023.
1) Furthermore, Jan Lüder will be stepping down as member of the Executive Committee in March 2025.
CVs of Executive Committee members
Dr. Suzanne Thoma
Executive Chair
Chair of the Strategy and Sustainability Committee
Member of the Nomination Committee
Educational background
- Ph.D. in Technical Sciences, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
- Master of Science in Chemical Engineering, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
- Bachelor of Business Administration, Graduate School of Business Administration (GSBA), Zurich, Switzerland
Other listed company mandates
- None
Other activities and vested interests
- Non-executive member of the Board of Directors, Beckers Group, Germany
- Non-executive member of the Board of Directors, BayWa r.e., Germany
- Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees, Avenir Suisse Foundation, Switzerland
- Member of the Board of Trustees of the ETH Foundation, Switzerland
- Member of the Executive Board, Swissmem Association, Switzerland
Professional background
Suzanne Thoma (Swiss) was elected as a member of Sulzer Ltd's Board of Directors in 2021 and as Chair in 2022. In addition, she was appointed Executive Chair of Sulzer Ltd as of November 1, 2022. Before joining Sulzer, Suzanne Thoma served as CEO at the international Energy, Engineering and Service company BKW AG in Bern, Switzerland, from 2013 to 2022. Prior to her appointment as CEO of BKW, she was a member of BKW’s Group Executive Committee, responsible for the Networks division. Before that, she was Head of the Automotive business for the WICOR Group in Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland, and CEO of Rolic Technologies Ltd., Allschwil, Switzerland. Earlier in her career, Suzanne Thoma held various management roles in a number of countries at Ciba Specialty Chemicals Ltd. (now BASF).
Thomas Zickler
Chief Financial Officer
Educational background
- Studies in Economics (1988-1994), Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University, Faculty of Economic Science, Frankfurt on Main, Frankfurt, Germany
Other listed company mandates
- None
Other activities and vested interests
- None
Professional background
Thomas Zickler (German/Swiss) was appointed Chief Financial Officer and member of the Executive Committee on May 1, 2022. He joined Sulzer as Head of Group Treasury in 2015 and most recently served as Head of Group Corporate Finance & Shared Services. Since 2016, Thomas Zickler has been a Member of the Board of Trustees for the company’s pension plans, the Sulzer Vorsorgeeinrichtung (SVE) and Johann Jakob Sulzer-Stiftung (JJS). Before joining Sulzer, he worked as Country Treasurer for ABB Switzerland in Baden (2010 to 2015). From 2006 until 2009, he was Vice President and Head of the External Financial Reporting & Technical Accounting Policies department for ABB Group in Zurich. Prior to that, from 1996 until 2006, he held various positions within Finance (controlling, accounting, treasury, IT consulting) at DaimlerChrysler in Stuttgart and Berlin. Thomas Zickler began his career in 1995 within the controlling department at Sherwood Medical and Metallgesellschaft in Frankfurt on Main. During his studies, he worked for Siemens AG in the Central Finance Department and Siemens Capital Corporation, in Munich and New York City. He was also an analyst at Georg Hauck & Son Bankiers in the equity research department in Frankfurt.
Haining Auperin
Chief Human Resources Officer
Educational background
- Master in Management and Company Policy, Human Resources, Social Development and Employment, Sciences-Po, Paris, France
- Master in Business Management, Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing, China
Other listed company mandates
- None
Other activities and vested interests
- None
Professional background
Haining Auperin (French) was appointed Chief Human Resources Officer and member of the Executive Committee on January 1, 2023. She joined Sulzer in 2016 as Division Head of HR for Flow and most recently served as Head of Group Human Resources Operations. Before joining Sulzer, Haining Auperin was the Senior Vice President Human Resources Boiler Business for GE Power from 2014 to 2016. Prior to that, she held various senior HR leader positions in different areas within GE, AREVA and Ansaldo.
Tim Schulten2
Division President Chemtech
Educational background
- Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland
- Master of Business Administration, Harvard Business School, Boston, USA
Other listed company mandates
- None
Other activities and vested interests
- None
Professional background
Tim Schulten (Swiss) joined the Sulzer Executive Committee as Division President Services in 2022. Prior to that he was the Group Head for Marketing, Strategy and Digital. Tim Schulten relinquished his role as Division President Services to assume the position of Division President Chemtech in October 2024. Before joining Sulzer, Tim Schulten was the General Manager and responsible for global Product Support & Marketing for Caterpillar’s Electric Power Business. From 2012 to 2015 he was General Manager for Sales & Distribution for Caterpillar’s global gas engine business, responsible for building and leading the organization during the post-acquisition integration of MWM. From 2007 to 2012, he was a Division Manager responsible for Caterpillar’s Electric Power Retail business in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Prior to that he held various positions in sales, marketing and product support with Caterpillar and he spent several years in California working in technology start-ups.
2) Appointed on October 1, 2024 (previously served as Division President Services from January 1, 2022)
Jan Lueder3
Division President Flow
Educational background
- Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Berlin, Germany
Other listed company mandates
- Advisory Board Member, Wealth Minerals Ltd., Vancouver, Canada
Other activities and vested interests
- None
Professional background
Jan Lueder (German) joined the Sulzer Executive Committee as Division President Flow on January 1, 2023. Before joining Sulzer, Jan Lueder served since 2019 as CEO of the Mining Technologies business unit for thyssenkrupp, which was acquired by FLSmidth in August 2022. Prior to this assignment, he held the position of CEO of thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions South East Asia in Singapore. In parallel, he held the position of CEO of thyssenkrupp South East Asia (since 2018). Previously, Jan Lueder worked for almost 20 years, from 1995 to 2015, for Siemens in the Power Plant and Industrial Solutions business in several long-term assignments in Asia, including Malaysia, from 1997 to 2000, and China, from 2011 to 2015, and within Europe (Finland from 2002 to 2004 and Austria from 2008 to 2011).
3) Stepping down as of March 1, 2025
Ravin Pillay-Ramsamy4
Division President Services
Educational background
- Master of Business Administration, Columbia Business School, New York, USA, and London Business School, London, England
- Master of Management in Finance, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York, USA
- Bachelor of Science, Electrical & Computer Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
Other listed company mandates
- None
Other activities and vested interests
- None
Professional background
Ravin Pillay-Ramsamy (Mauritian/American) joined the Sulzer Executive Committee as Division President Services on October 1, 2024. He has held several key positions at Sulzer since joining the company in 2015. Prior to his current appointment, he led Sulzer Services’ EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa) from 2021, expanding his role in March 2023 to Deputy Division President of the Services Division. From 2018 to 2020, Ravin Pillay-Ramsamy was based in Singapore as President of the Asia-Pacific region. Prior to that, he spent two years between the USA and Switzerland as Head of Business Development & Strategy for the Services division. Before joining Sulzer, he worked at Turbine Services Ltd. from 2005 to 2015, most recently serving as Business Development Director and Vice President Engineering in Saratoga Springs, New York.
4) Appointed on October 1, 2024
Additional mandates of members of the Executive Committee outside the Sulzer Group
No member of the Executive Committee may hold more than five mandates, of which no more than one may be in listed companies (Articles of Association, § 33). Exceptions (e.g., for mandates held at the request of Sulzer Ltd or a Group company or mandates in associations) are defined in the Articles of Association (§ 33, paragraphs a, b and c). All members of the Executive Committee are within the limits for external mandates prescribed by the company’s Articles of Association.