- Carl Zeiss AG is expanding its Executive Board team with Susan-Stefanie Breitkopf as Chief Transformation Officer. She is currently Head of Corporate Human Resources at the ZEISS Group.
- Dr. Matthias Metz, member of the Executive Board of Carl Zeiss AG and responsible for the ZEISS Consumer Markets segment, will switch to BSH Hausgeräte GmbH, Munich. There he will take over as Chief Executive Officer starting 1 October 2022.
- His successor will be Sven Hermann, currently Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at ZEISS Vision Care in the ZEISS Consumer Markets segment, effective 1 July 2022.
Oberkochen, Germany | June 2022 | ZEISS Group
The ZEISS Group continues on a dynamic growth path. All four ZEISS segments and all regions are contributing to profitable growth. Expenditure on research and development and investments in digitalization were further increased and are higher than ever before. In order to continue to successfully align the company’s development and, in particular, to accelerate the transformation of the ZEISS Group’s digital infrastructure, the Supervisory Board of Carl Zeiss AG has resolved to expand the Executive Board to include the function of Chief Transformation Officer (CTO), and to appoint Susan-Stefanie Breitkopf to this position on the Executive Board effective 1 July 2022. She has been Head of Corporate Human Resources at the ZEISS Group since 2021.
“ZEISS is on an impressive path to further success, characterized by dynamic growth and a portfolio that is supported by megatrends such as digitalization and also leverages this for its innovative customer solutions,” explains Dr. Michael Bolle, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Carl Zeiss AG. “The Supervisory Board is pleased to appoint Susan-Stefanie Breitkopf as a member of the Carl Zeiss AG Executive Board and wishes her every success in her new role. She has impressively demonstrated in her professional career and in her first months at ZEISS that her excellent management and leadership skills make her the right candidate to accelerate the transformation at ZEISS while also incorporating the necessary cultural changes. This is particularly important in the ongoing, comprehensive digital transformation processes.“
There will be another change on the Executive Board of Carl Zeiss AG because Dr. Matthias Metz, the Executive Board member responsible for the ZEISS Consumer Markets segment, will switch to BSH Hausgeräte GmbH, Munich. There, he will assume the position of Chief Executive Officer as of 1 October 2022.
“ZEISS owes a great deal to Matthias Metz for the further development of the consumer business and the presence and appeal of the brand. With continuous, profitable growth far above the market average, the Consumer Markets segment is more successful than ever before,” says Dr. Michael Bolle, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Carl Zeiss AG. “The Supervisory Board would like to thank Matthias Metz for his high level of commitment and the extremely positive development of the Consumer Markets segment, and wishes him continued success in his new position.”
The Supervisory Board of Carl Zeiss AG has appointed Sven Hermann as Dr. Matthias Metz’s successor and new member of the Executive Board effective 1 July 2022. Hermann is currently Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at the ZEISS Vision Care strategic business unit, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of eyeglass lenses and ophthalmic instruments. The unit is allocated to the Consumer Markets segment, which also includes the ZEISS Consumer Products strategic business unit with camera and cine lenses, optics for nature observation and hunting, and mobile imaging.
“The Supervisory Board of Carl Zeiss AG is pleased to find a suitable successor from within the company’s own ranks in Sven Hermann. He has a distinctive understanding of customers, very good global market knowledge and has proved his comprehensive management and leadership skills in his previous positions at ZEISS in a wide variety of functions. We wish him every success and all the best in his new role,” says Dr. Michael Bolle.
As of 1 July 2022, the Executive Board of Carl Zeiss AG will thus consist of the President and CEO, Dr. Karl Lamprecht, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Dr. Christian Müller, and Chief Transformation Officer (CTO), Susan-Stefanie Breitkopf ‒ as well as the Head of the ZEISS Consumer Markets segment, Sven Hermann, the Head of the ZEISS Industrial Quality & Research segment, Dr. Jochen Peter, the Head of the ZEISS Medical Technology segment, Dr. Markus Weber, and the Head of the ZEISS Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology segment, Andreas Pecher.
Brief profiles
Susan-Stefanie Breitkopf has been Head of Corporate Human Resources at the ZEISS Group, Oberkochen, since 2021. Prior to this, starting in 2017, she was Managing Director and Labor Director at the Currenta Group, Leverkusen, a former joint venture of Bayer AG and Lanxess AG for operating the major chemical sites in North Rhine-Westphalia. From 2015, Susan-Stefanie Breitkopf worked at Covestro AG, Leverkusen. She began her career as an industrial executive in 2004 at Lanxess AG, Cologne. Prior to this, she worked as a specialist in labor law. She completed her law degree at the University of Hamburg.
Dr. Matthias Metz has been a member of the Executive Board of Carl Zeiss AG since June 2015 and is responsible for the Consumer Markets segment. He is also responsible for the Benelux, Latin America and South Africa regions across the Group. Before joining ZEISS, Matthias Metz’s positions included Managing Director at Fackelmann GmbH + Co. KG, Hersbruck, member of the Executive Board of Zwilling J.A. Henckels AG, Solingen, and consultant at McKinsey. In addition, he also serves as Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Zwiesel Kristallglas AG, Zwiesel, as well as a member of the Executive Committee and Vice President of the Ostwürttemberg Chamber of Industry and Commerce. After completing a commercial apprenticeship and studying business administration at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, he earned a doctorate in economics and social sciences at the University of Lüneburg.
Sven Hermann began his professional career in 2000 with the consultancy Arthur Andersen in Germany and the USA. In 2004, he started as M&A project manager at Carl Zeiss AG, Oberkochen. In 2005, he moved to ZEISS Vision Care, one of two strategic business units in the ZEISS Consumer Markets segment. There, Sven Hermann’s responsibilities included serving as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in 2008 and overall responsibility for the Europe region in 2011. In 2014, he became a member of the management team of ZEISS Vision Care as CFO and has been Chief Sales & Marketing Officer since 2015. Sven Hermann studied business administration at the University of Bayreuth.
Press Contact
Jörg Nitschke
Head of Corporate Brand and Communications
ZEISS Group
Phone: +49 7364 20-3242
joerg.nitschke@zeiss.com
Susan-Stefanie Breitkopf
Dr. Matthias Metz
Sven Hermann
About ZEISS
ZEISS is an internationally leading technology enterprise operating in the fields of optics and optoelectronics. In the previous fiscal year, the ZEISS Group generated annual revenue totaling 7.5 billion euros in its four segments Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology, Industrial Quality & Research, Medical Technology and Consumer Markets (status: 30 September 2021).
For its customers, ZEISS develops, produces and distributes highly innovative solutions for industrial metrology and quality assurance, microscopy solutions for the life sciences and materials research, and medical technology solutions for diagnostics and treatment in ophthalmology and microsurgery. The name ZEISS is also synonymous with the world’s leading lithography optics, which are used by the chip industry to manufacture semiconductor components. There is global demand for trendsetting ZEISS brand products such as eyeglass lenses, camera lenses and binoculars.
With a portfolio aligned with future growth areas like digitalization, healthcare and Smart Production and a strong brand, ZEISS is shaping the future of technology and constantly advancing the world of optics and related fields with its solutions. The company’s significant, sustainable investments in research and development lay the foundation for the success and continued expansion of ZEISS’ technology and market leadership. ZEISS invests 13 percent of its revenue in research and development – this high level of expenditure has a long tradition at ZEISS and is also an investment in the future.
With around 37,000 employees, ZEISS is active globally in almost 50 countries with around 30 production sites, 60 sales and service companies and 27 research and development facilities (status: 31 March 2022). Founded in 1846 in Jena, the company is headquartered in Oberkochen, Germany. The Carl Zeiss Foundation, one of the largest foundations in Germany committed to the promotion of science, is the sole owner of the holding company, Carl Zeiss AG.
Further information at www.zeiss.com
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About ZEISS Consumer Markets
The ZEISS Consumer Markets segment bundles the consumer products business in two strategic business units. ZEISS Vision Care is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of eyeglass lenses, ophthalmic instruments and platforms. ZEISS Consumer Products comprises the business with camera and cine lenses, binoculars, spotting scopes, hunting optics and mobile imaging. With over 13,000 employees, the segment generated revenue of almost 1.4 billion euros in fiscal year 2020/21.
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