Executive Committee

Group CEO

Dr. Daniel Bossard (1970)
Swiss citizen

• Group CEO since 2019

Professional background
From 2009 to 2018, Dr. Daniel Bossard was CEO Northern and Eastern Europe. From 2006 to 2008, he served as sales & marketing manager of Bossard Group and was responsible for the reorientation of Bossard’s sales strategy as well as the development of international customer relations. From 2003 until 2006, he was CEO of Bossard Denmark. Dr. Daniel Bossard joined Bossard in 2000 as an e-business manager, after having worked as a consultant for Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting).

 
Educational background

• Business administration degree and doctorate in technology management, University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland

Other activities and vested interests

• Member of the board of directors, Schweiter Technologies AG, Steinhausen, Switzerland
• Member of the board of directors, BURU Holding AG, Cham, Switzerland

CFO

Stephan Zehnder (1965)
Swiss citizen

• Group CFO since 2005

Professional background
Stephan Zehnder took over the function as group controller of Bossard Group in 1998, remaining in this position until the end of 2004. From 1996 to 1997, he was a controller in Bossard’s corporate finance team. Prior to this, he was employed by various international companies in functions concerned with finance and controlling.

Educational background

• MBA in Finance, Graduate School of Business Administration and University of Wales, Zurich, Switzerland

CEO Northern & Eastern Europe
Group CCO

Dr. Frank Hilgers (1966)
German citizen

• CEO Northern & Eastern Europe since 2019
• Group CCO since 2015

Professional background
Dr. Frank Hilgers has been CEO Northern and Eastern Europe since May 2019. Since 2015, he has been responsible for the group-wide management of branded products and high quality fastening solutions (Chief Category Officer, CCO). He has also headed the business units of KVT-Fastening since 2012. From 2009 to 2012, he was a member of the KVT-Koenig management team responsible for sales, product management and the fastening systems division. During his employment at Continental between 2007 and 2009, he was in charge of all national organizations of the spare parts business and key account management in the Commercial & Special Vehicle area. From 2004 to 2007, Dr. Frank Hilgers headed Group Strategy and Corporate Development at Siemens VDO Automotive and was instrumental in the turnaround and sale of this Siemens segment. As senior manager for strategy, Dr. Frank Hilgers headed major international projects at Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting) from 1997 until 2004, and was responsible for automotive suppliers and the shareholder value initiative in the German speaking countries.

 
Educational background

• Degree in chemistry and doctorate, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
• Executive MBA (Accenture Program), Kellogg School of Management Northwestern University, Evanston, USA

Other activities and vested interests

• Member of the advisory board, enersis suisse AG, Bern, Switzerland

CEO America

David Jones (1970)
Citizen of the USA

• CEO America since 2021

Professional background
From 2013 until 2020, David Jones was responsible for the global automotive business as part of the Sika Group. Prior to that, from 2010 to 2013, he managed the industry- and automotive business in North America for Sika Corporation. From 2004 to 2010, David Jones served as a Key Account Manager and later as the Vice President of Engineering for Sika Corporation. While living in Switzerland, from 2000 to 2004, he was the Director of Engineering and Global Account Manager, supporting the integration of newly acquired automotive based business for Sika AG. Between 1995 and 2000, David Jones held positions as Project Manager & Key Account Manager for Sika Corporation and was a Release Engineer for General Motors in 1994.

 
Educational background

• Bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering, Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, USA
• MBA, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
• Executive education, IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland

CEO Asia

Robert Ang (1963)
Citizen of Singapore

• CEO Asia since 2009

Professional background
From 2005 until 2009, Robert Ang was responsible for Bossard Greater China (China, Taiwan) and prior to that, the Southeast Asia region. From 1997 until 1999, he was CEO of Bossard Singapore. Robert Ang managed his own company from 1994 until it was acquired by Bossard in 1997. He spent the four years prior as a product manager for Conner Peripherals and Optics Storage Pte Ltd. in Singapore. Between 1986 and 1989 he worked as a buyer at Printronix AG.

 
Educational background

• Diploma in business administration, Thames Business School, Singapore, Singapore
• Diploma in mechanical engineering, Singapore Polytechnic, Singapore, Singapore
• MBA, Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore, Singapore

CEO Central and Southern Europe since 2023

Rolf Ritter (1969)
Dual Swiss-US citizen

• CEO Central and Southern Europe since 2023

Professional background
Rolf Ritter has been CEO Central and Southern Europe since January 2023. Prior to that, he was VP of M&A and Business Development (Chief Strategy Officer). In 2014, he founded his own consulting company in Miami, USA, and started investing in tech startups and providing strategic M&A advice to various companies. In addition, Rolf Ritter taught an EMBA in Information Technology at Florida International University. From 2009 to 2014, he was CEO of BDT Media Automation GmbH, Rottweil, Germany, a global technology leader in data archiving with production facilities in Germany, Mexico, China and Singapore. Rolf Ritter joined Bossard in 2004 as General Manager at Bossard France after having worked as project manager and consultant for Volkswagen, Accenture and SIG in Mexico, Brazil, Germany and Switzerland.

 
Educational background

• Business administration degree, HSG, St. Gallen, Switzerland

Group VP People & Organization since 2023

Susan Salzbrenner (1982)
German citizen

• Group VP People & Organization since 2023

Professional background
Susan Salzbrenner has been Group VP People & Organization since January 2023 and Functional Manager People and Organizational Development at Bossard since June 2021. From 2017 to 2021, she was a partner at the Scandinavian consulting firm Implement Consulting Group, focusing on cultural transformation, leadership and organizational development, and new forms of business. Susan Salzbrenner was able to build on existing, multi-year consulting mandates for major corporations such as Philips. From 2012 to 2017, she gained sales as well as entrepreneurial experience in setting up and expanding her own consulting company “Fit across Cultures”. From 2009 to 2011, the trained organizational psychologist worked in human resources at the multinational logistics group A.P. Moeller Maersk.

 
Educational background

• Master of science in work and organizational psychology - Friedrich-Schiller University, Jena, Germany
• Master degree in social psychology - University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
• Post-graduate degree in intercultural business communication, Friedrich-Schiller University, Jena, Germany