Vienna, Vienna, Austria
I drive sustainability transformation in large industrial companies – translating ESG ambition into strategy, and strategy into lasting business impact. As VP Sustainability & Public Affairs at Borealis, I lead the company’s net-zero climate strategy, advance circular economy transformation, and own ESG/CSRD reporting – while building LCA and Product Carbon Footprint capabilities that make sustainability tangible for customers and credible to investors. Before moving into sustainability, I ran a major business carve-out at Borealis as Chief Transformation Officer – steering a complex turnaround through rigorous financial management and deep organizational change across a large, multi-site operation. Earlier Borealis roles spanned commercial strategy as Application Marketing Manager, enterprise-wide continuous improvement programmes as Director Group Quality & PMO, and a corporate resilience programme as Strategy & Group Development Manager – giving me a grounded understanding of how large industrial businesses actually operate and create value. At Sandoz (Novartis Group), I shaped global strategy and spearheaded emerging market expansion. At McKinsey & Company, I advised and challenged senior leadership across pharma, financial services, energy, and telecoms. My PhD in Genetics and MSc in Microbiology from the University of Vienna ground my work in scientific rigor – essential for credible LCA, GHG accounting, and sustainability claims. I am passionate about connecting with leaders and organizations who are serious about decarbonization and circular economy in European industrial sectors.
• Develop & implement the sustainability & public affairs strategy. • Lead the transformation towards net-zero GHG emissions by 2050, develop climate neutrality plans and roadmaps in particular for GHG Scope 3 emissions. • Develop and represent Borealis' position towards global, in particular EU, policymakers and coordinate the company's engagement in industry associations. • Engage with customers to develop sustainable solutions across the value chain, in particular in relation to carbon management. • Drive the ESG related risk, opportunity and impact assessment to shape the Group’s sustainability agenda and as input for the Group’s Annual Report. • Manage the center of competence for life cycle assessments and equip business with carbon footprints for 1,100+ products for decision making and promoting sustainable solutions at customers. • Manage external sustainability ratings to showcase Borealis’ commitment and progress. • Manage the portfolio of CSR related engagements via the Borealis Social Fund with up to 20 projects across Europe, MEA and Africa, and coordinate the Group’s sponsoring activities. • Scale up Project STOP as the circular waste management system in Indonesia’s Banyuwangi Regency (East Java) to minimize leakage of plastics into the ocean, making it accessible to 2 million people and creating 1,000 local green jobs. • Additional roles to drive thought leadership in sustainability: Board member of the Project STOP Foundation; Member of the Advisory Board at the New Plastics Economy Initiative of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation; Member of Net Zero Transition Committee at European Petrochemicals Association (EPCA); President of the Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Kunststofftechnik (GFKT)
• Progress Borealis’ commitment to sustainability by driving and guiding a sustainability strategy throughout the company, and being a catalyst for sustainability-related initiatives that create value for our stakeholders - with particular focus on climate neutrality and circular economy. • Advance an advocacy strategy and positions that contribute to shaping Borealis’ business activities, and orchestrate its execution with key stakeholders through an effective public affairs organization. • Lead the implementation of Borealis Group's climate strategy towards net-zero GHG emissions. • Responsible for non-financial reporting (also as part of the Borealis Annual Report), implementation of EU Taxonomy, and ESG benchmarks. • Drive the corporate social engagement and sponsoring strategy and manage flagship initiatives under the umbrella of the Borealis Social Fund that address relevant societal challenges, and foster Borealis’ reputation as a socially responsible company. • Lead Project STOP, a pioneering programme co-initiated by Borealis to create more circular waste management systems in emerging and developing regions to stop ocean plastics at source, targeting to reach 2 million people in Indonesia. • Board member of the Project STOP Foundation. • President of the Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Kunststofftechnik (GFKT) • Member of the Advisory Board at the New Plastics Economy Initiative (NEPC) of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation • Member of Net Zero Transition Committee at European Petrochemicals Association (EPCA)
• Carve out the Fertiliser, TEN, and Melamine business from Borealis Group into a separate division (>2,000 employees). • Turnaround the carved out Fertiliser, TEN, and Melamine business (turnover BEUR 1.2) to regain profitability short-term (EBITDA and cash) as well as ensure long-term sustainability. • Based on prioritised value drivers, develop and implement >300 initiatives to increase production volumes, optimise price and margins, reduce variable and fixed cost, as well as improve cash position (Working Capital and CAPEX) to enable a sustainable EBITDA improvement of MEUR 130+ and cash flow improvement of MEUR 50+. • Drive change management to fully engage the organization in the turnaround.
Acting as non-executive Board member of Neochim PLC, representing FEBORAN EOOD owning 20.3% of shares (while FEBORAN EOOD is fully owned by Borealis AG). The company produces and sells inorganic and organic chemical products, including Ammonia, Nitric Acid, Ammonium Nitrate, Formalin, Urea-Formaldehyde Resins, and Ammonium Bicarbonate.
• Manage the global 5 year strategy process across Business Groups, regions, and key countries • Drive strategic projects of Commercial Operations/countries and global functions (e.g., Operations, R&D), such as the redesign of the incentive system across the organization, redefinition of the Sandoz strategy in Asia, preparation of an integrated strategy for Western Europe, and support of the Hexal AG and Eon Labs Ltd. integration (acquired by Sandoz in 2005). • Define and monitor the Group's Balanced Scorecard and, in support of the Executive Board, define mitgation actions where needed • Coordinate the Sandoz Group communication to financial analysts in close cooperation with the Novartis Investor Relations and Finance teams (e.g., Novartis Annual Results Conference, Novartis Annual General Meeting, press conferences). • Support the CEO in various communication activities internally and externally, such as Leadership Conferences, Novartis Executive Board and Board of Directors. • As Head Strategic Planning ad interim (02-09/2007) lead the Strategic Planning and Business Intelligence team, coordinate the Sandoz Executive Committee meetings and drive strategic projects with Novartis Group (e.g., Biopharmaceuticals, geographic expansion into emerging markets)
Manage projects with focus on strategy, organizational design, turnaround, and post-merger integration in the pharmaceutical industry, banking & insurance, transportation, petrochemical industry, and IT/telecommunication, such as • Develop a marketing and sales strategy for SME customers of a German retail bank • Design a global corporate center for a major German insurance company including global functions and regions following a merger with a major asset management company • Develop a strategy to establish an international network between industry and academia for a multi-national Pharmaco to foster both know-how and technology transfer • Implement a sales stiumlation programme at one of the leading international IT providers in order to reverse a significant sales downturn in a post-merger situation • Define a business strategy for a telecom incumbent to enter the integrated IT solutions business • Manage a turnaround programme of a national railway incumbent, including design, content support and integrated controlling of 11 projects to achieve a sustainable EBIT improvement, redesign the corporate organizational structure to comply to EU legislation, and realign the infrastructure financing • Analyse the organizational performance of an international petrochemical company and lead the conceptual development of measures to drive superior business performance
The Children's Cancer Research Institute advances diagnosis, prognosis and therapies for children with cancer (childhood cancer research-paediatric oncology-biomedical research-translational research-clinical research) Focus of my work: 'Development of an immune therapeutic for the treatment of cancer based on IL-12 producing dendritic cells for the activation of cytotoxic T cells'