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Management Board

According to the Organizational Regulations of Sonova, the Management Board consists of at least four, and additional members according to the corporate needs. The Management Board is appointed by the Board of Directors, as recommended by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). 

Members of the Sonova Management Board

Arnd Kaldowski
CEO

Arnd Kaldowski

Nationality: Germany

Born: 1967

First election: October 2017

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Biography

Arnd Kaldowski (born 1967, German citizen) joined the Sonova Group in October 2017 as Chief Operating Officer and became CEO as of April 1, 2018. He joined Sonova from Danaher Corporation, where he served in various leadership capacities since 2008, most recently as Group Executive of the Diagnostics Platform and President Beckman Coulter Diagnostics. Arnd Kaldowski led significant sales growth, innovation and productivity initiatives. He also brings significant experience and a successful track record in M&A, commercial excellence and new product introduction, which he gained in the course of his career at Danaher and as SVP Point-of-Care Solutions at Siemens Medical, following his previous assignments as Investment Director of Atila Ventures and as a Manager with the Boston Consulting Group.

Arnd Kaldowski holds a Master of Science in Physics from the Technical University Darmstadt, Germany, and an MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.

 

Holdings as per 31.3.2023

  • Shares1): 19,191
  • Performance Share Units:10,527
  • Options: 211,720

1) Shares are dividend entitled with full voting rights. For further details see also Note 7.4 in the consolidated financial statements.

Birgit Conix, CFO
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

Birgit Conix

Nationality: Belgium

Born: 1965

First election: June 2021

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Biography 

Birgit Conix (born in 1965, Belgian citizen) joined the Sonova Group in Mai 2021 and assumed the CFO position mid-June of the same year. 

She was previously Chief Financial Officer and member of the Executive Board of TUI AG, a global leader in tourism, from 2018 to 2021. Before joining TUI AG, she was Chief Financial Officer of the Belgian media, cable and telecommunications group Telenet Group NV. Prior to that, she held various top-level positions in finance, strategy and business operations in the pharmaceuticals and medical devices business units at Johnson&Johnson, and in finance at Heineken, Tenneco and Reed Elsevier. 

Birgit Conix holds an MBA from University of Chicago, Booth School of Business, USA and a Master of Science in Business Economics from the University of Tilburg, Netherlands.

 

Outside mandates:

  • Supervisory Board member at ASML Holding N.V.

 

Holdings as per 31.3.2023

  • Shares1): 195
  • Performance Share Units: 2,388
  • Options: 10,378

1) Shares are dividend entitled with full voting rights. For further details see also Note 7.4 in the consolidated financial statements

Ludger Althoff
GVP Operations

Ludger Althoff

Nationality: Germany

Born: 1964

First election: April 2019

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Biography

Ludger Althoff (born 1964, German citizen) joined the Sonova Group in January 2019 as Vice President (VP) Operations and became Group Vice President Operations as of April 1, 2019. 

Before joining Sonova, he was Senior VP Quality and Operations at ABB Power Grids where he held functional responsibility for all factories and engineering centers of the business. Before that, he held various key operation leadership positions within the Danaher Corporation, including the role of VP Global Operations of Danaher’s Dental Group and the role of VP Global Operations of Leica Microsystems. Ludger Althoff brings with him over 25 years of international management experience in operations, global sourcing and logistics as well as continuous improvement.

Ludger Althoff completed his education at the City of Mönchengladbach Technical School and was certified Quality Manager (EOQ) by the European Organization for Quality.

 

Holdings as per 31.03.2023

  • Shares1): 1,447
  • Performance Share Units: 3,058
  • Restricted Share Units: 264
  • Options: 21,771

1) Shares are dividend entitled with full voting rights. For further details see also Note 7.4 in the consolidated financial statements.

Victoria E. Carr-Brendel
GVP Cochlear Implants

Victoria E. Carr-Brendel

Nationality: USA

Born: 1964

First election: April 2019

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Biography

Victoria Carr-Brendel (born 1964, US citizen) was appointed Group Vice President Cochlear Implants and President of Advanced Bionics in April 1, 2019. 

She is an accomplished medical device executive with vast experience across several therapeutic areas, in both 510K and PMA devices. She started her career as a scientist in research and development, and took on increasingly larger business and management roles throughout her career. Before joining Sonova, she worked for JenaValve Technology Inc., a global and innovative transcatheter heart valve company, where she became CEO in mid-2015. Prior to that, she worked at Boston Scientific in roles spanning R&D, project management, franchise general manager/general manager for the neurovascular, electrophysiology, and peripheral interventions divisions, and the Bayer acquisition.

Victoria Carr-Brendel holds a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from University of Illinois at Chicago.

 

Outside mandates:

  • Board member at MDMA (Medical Device Manufacturers Association)

 

Holdings as per 31.03.2023

  • Shares1): 628
  • Performance Share Units: 3,068
  • Restricted Share Units: 237
  • Options3): 21,138

1) Shares are dividend entitled with full voting rights.

3) SARs were granted instead of options (SARs grant the right to participate in the appreciation of Sonova shares without issuance of shares). For further details see also Note 7.4 in the consolidated financial statements.

Christophe Fond
GVP Audiological Care

Christophe Fond

Nationality: France

Born: 1966

First election: February 2017

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Biography

Christophe Fond (born 1966, French citizen) joined the Sonova Group in February 2017 as Group Vice President Retail. Before joining Sonova, he held the role of President Latin America and was a member of the Executive Board at GrandVision, a global leader in optical retailing. In the course of his career he gained extensive experience in global retail management, leading transformational growth of large-scale retail enterprises, including acquisitions, mergers, and integrations.

Prior to joining GrandVision he held various roles of international responsibility at Pearle, Bata, and FNAC.

Christophe Fond received a Master of Business Administration from IMD-Switzerland and graduated from the Superior School of Military Engineering (ESAG) in France.

 

Holdings as per 31.03.2023

  • Performance Share Units: 3,855
  • Restricted Share Units: 162
  • Options: 40,779
Martin Grieder
GVP Consumer Hearing

Martin Grieder

Nationality: Switzerland/UK

Born: 1965

First election: August 2014

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Biography

Martin Grieder (born 1965, Swiss and British citizen) has been Group Vice President Phonak since August 2014. Between September 2016 and March 2022 he was Group Vice President Hearing Instruments Marketing. In April 2022 he was appointed Groupe Vice President Consumer Hearing. 

He joined Sonova from Nestlé, where he was Vice President and Global Head of Nestlé BabyNes. Martin Grieder joined Nestlé in 1992 and brings over 20 years of experience in senior management roles within the company. His diversified crossfunctional work experience in 18 countries ranges from leading the global Nespresso professional division to managing Nestlé Nespresso North America. Further senior roles at Nestlé included Vice President, Head of Finance for the Americas and Head Nestlé Group Audit as well as R&D Head for Food & Beverage systems solutions for the Nestlé Group.

Martin Grieder received a Master of Business Administration degree from IMD-Switzerland and a Bachelor’s degree in business and economics from the University of Applied Science and Arts (FHNW) in Basel.

 

Holdings as per 31.03.2023

  • Shares1): 1,370
  • Performance Share Units: 3,521
  • Restricted Share Units: 158
  • Options: 50,989

1) Shares are dividend entitled with full voting rights. For further details see also Note 7.4 in the consolidated financial statements.

Katya Kruglova
GVP Human Resources & Communications

Katya Kruglova

Nationality: UK

Born: 1971

First election: May 2023

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Biography

Katya Kruglova (born 1971, UK citizen) joined the Sonova Group in March 2023 and was appointed Group Vice President Human Resources & Communications in May 2023. 

Katya is a seasoned HR leader with more than 25 years of global experience in large-scale organizations and various industries, including medical devices, life sciences and financial services. She joined Sonova from GE Healthcare, a global medical technology company, where she led a global HR team located in more than 30 countries as VP Human Resources. She also played a key role in the spin-off of GE Healthcare into a publicly listed company. Prior to that, Katya held HR positions with growing responsibilities in various General Electric entities, including GE Healthcare Life Sciences and GE Capital.

Katya has a Master’s degree in English/Spanish Linguistics and Psychology from the State Linguistic University in Moscow, Russia. 

Robert (Rob) Woolley
GVP Hearing Instruments

Robert Woolley

Nationality: USA

Born: 1976

First election: April 2022

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Biography

Robert (Rob) Woolley (born in 1976, US citizen) joined the Sonova Group in January 2022 and was appointed GVP Hearing Instruments in April 2022. 

He previously has held the position of Executive Vice President for North America and then became the Executive Vice President Western Europe, both as member of the Management Board at Straumann Group, a global leader in esthetic dentistry. He has longstanding experience in leadership roles in the medical device and healthcare sector, both in the USA and Switzerland, among others at Stryker, Trivascular and Medtronic. Rob comes with a broad range of functional experiences including roles with increasing responsibility in general management, sales and marketing, product portfolio management and business development. 

Robert Woolley is an engineer by training with a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from Brigham Young University and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. 

Holdings as per 31.03.2023

  • Performance Share Units: 842
  • Restricted Share Units: 1,350
  • Options: 9,730