Effective as of 1 March 2021, Katja Gross will be appointed as Executive Director of Fielmann AG. She will lead all HR functions of the Fielmann Group, a position previously held by CEO Marc Fielmann since 2018 on an interim basis. This appointments marks the end of a two-year succession process.
As the CEO of Fielmann Group, Marc Fielmann continues to be responsible for the company's philosophy and its strategy as well as for the Marketing, Communications, Product Development, Digital and IT departments as well as central functions.
"The basis for our success is having highly skilled employees who embody our customer-friendly philosophy. With the Supervisory Board's appointment of Katja Gross as Executive Director, we conclude an important, long-term succession process. Within her 19 years in our company, Katja has gained extensive experience regarding our organization and its philosophy. During the coronavirus pandemic she has proven herself as structured but also empathetic senior manager", says Marc Fielmann, CEO of Fielmann Group.
"We are looking forward to working with her on the board level. Surely, Katja and her organization will play a leading role in shaping our Vision 2025 by executing the international HR strategy as well as our group-wide leadership program."
Katja Gross holds a German diploma degree in Psychology as well as a Master's degree in Corporate Law. She started her career with Fielmann in 2001 as manager in the company's personnel development department. In the following years, Katja was subsequently taking on additional leadership responsibility. In 2010 she was put in charge of the Philosophy Training department, in 2014 she became Director of Personnel Development and since 2018 she is Vice-President with responsibility for all HR functions of the Fielmann Group.
"With the unanimous appointment of Katja Groß as Executive Director the Supervisory Board emphasizes the significance and importance of the 21.000 employees of the Fielmann Group. We are very happy to transfer this responsibility to an experienced manager like Katja, who has been with Fielmann for nearly 20 years. In the last two years, as Vice President HR, she has really proven herself", says Prof. Mark Binz, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Fielmann AG.