EINDHOVEN, the Netherlands – Signify announced the appointment of Francisco Javier van Engelen Sousa as Chief Financial Officer, effective June 15, 2020. Javier will succeed René van Schooten, who currently holds the position on an interim basis. Over the coming months René and Javier will work closely together to ensure a thorough business onboarding and a smooth transition. This is expected to be completed with the closure of Q3 in October.
“I am very pleased to welcome Javier as our new CFO. He is a proven, experienced, and well-rounded CFO, having held a range of financial leadership positions. He has a wealth of experience working with international teams and has lived in various countries around the world. His broad background will enable him to play a key role in driving our strategy and reinforcing our leadership position in the global lighting industry, while building strong and lasting relationships with the investor community.” — Eric Rondolat, Chief Executive Officer at Signify
Javier has held financial leadership positions at international FMCG, retail and pharmaceutical companies in listed, family-owned and private equity environments. He most recently held the position of CFO for Grupo Telepizza, a EUR 1.2 billion food operator, ultimately leading the process to take the company private in 2019. Prior to this, he was CFO of Jerónimo Martins, a EUR 15 billion listed food retailing company with over 90,000 employees. Javier also has a solid manufacturing and M&A background, stemming from the start of his career at Procter & Gamble, and subsequent CFO roles at AstraZeneca and Triumph International.
A Belgian and Portuguese national, Javier holds a master’s degree in Economics from the Antwerp International Business School in Belgium.
“I cannot imagine a more exciting time to join Signify. With its strong innovation heritage, the quality of its people and the leadership team, and the recently increased global footprint, Signify is well positioned to further grow its market leadership. Through a combination of continued financial discipline and a focus on value creation opportunities, I am looking forward to contribute to the success of the company in the next phase of its strategy.” — Javier van Engelen
Signify will propose the appointment of Javier van Engelen to the Board of Management at an Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders (EGM), to be held later this year.