Monday 2023-09-11

The HELLA Shareholder Committee has appointed Stefanie Rheker as a new member of the Management Board. She takes over responsibility for global human resources management from CHRO David Schajer, who will leave the company at his own request at the end of October to take up a management position outside the FORVIA network. Stefanie Rheker will start in the second quarter of 2024 at the latest. This will re-establish the role of the Chief Human Resources Officer at Management Board level. From 1 November and until Stefanie Rheker assumes office, Michel Favre will take over the role of CHRO in combination of tasks.

​"I am very pleased that with Stefanie Rheker a proven expert in modern human resources management will join HELLA. The success of our company is based on the commitment and cooperation of all employees worldwide. Developing this team, making it fit for the tasks of tomorrow and at the same time creating an environment where work is fun is a key success factor for us," says Michel Favre. With regard to David Schajer, he adds: "I thank David Schajer very much for his excellent work. I am pleased that he will take up a responsible new challenge. I wish him all the best for that."

​A great honor

​"Being able to take on responsibility for HELLA's global HR management as a member of the Management Board is a great honor. HELLA is an excellently positioned, technologically leading automotive supplier that can act even more strongly in the global FORVIA network. HELLA is thus excellently positioned for the future. I would like to help shape this path with future-oriented human resources management. I am therefore very much looking forward to working with the more than 36,000 colleagues worldwide," says Stefanie Rheker.

Stefanie Rheker has many years of experience and leadership skills in human resources management. Since 2006, she has held various specialist and management positions at Arvato, a Bertelsmann subsidiary based in Gütersloh, which specialises in logistics services, among other things. There, the 44-year-old psychologist has held global responsibility for human resources as Chief Human Resources Officer since 2015. Previously, she worked for various other companies in Germany and the USA. "Already during my studies of psychology, I was able to deepen my passion for people and gain my first experience in the HR field in the US. Supporting people in their work environment and accompanying them to bring out the best in themselves has been the focus of my professional career ever since," Rheker emphasises.

​When Stefanie Rheker is not driving HR topics, she is passionate about spending time with her family or on the golf course. ​