Leadership Team

Chief Executive Officer

Samuel Sigrist is a Swiss citizen and had served as CFO and chairman of the Middle East Joint Venture since 2017. With effect from 1 January 2021, he became CEO of the SIG Group. Samuel joined the Company in 2005 and has worked in various finance and corporate development roles, including Director of Group Controlling & Reporting, Head of Finance/CFO of Europe and Head of Group Projects. From 2013 to 2017 he was the Company’s President & General Manager Europe, and prior to joining the company he worked as a consultant. 

Chief Financial Officer

Ann-Kristin Erkens is a German citizen and joined SIG in November 2023. Previously, Ann-Kristin spent 21 years at Henkel. In addition to her role as Corporate Senior Vice President and Financial Director of Adhesives Technologies, she was responsible for Global Operations and Supply Chain Adhesive Technologies and for the region of Europe. Prior to that she was Financial Commercial Director for the Packaging Adhesives Business and the region of India, Middle East, and Africa. Within the broader Henkel Group, she previously served as Corporate Director of Group Strategy.

Chief Technology Officer

Gavin Steiner, who has both Swiss and South African citizenship, joined SIG in April 2023 as Chief Technology Officer. He has many years of international experience in senior R&D, manufacturing, and innovation functions, covering a broad spectrum of food quality and safety systems.  He formerly worked 28 years at Nestlé, where he was Vice President Global R&D Packaging and Technology from 2018 to 2023. His previous roles at Nestlé included Operations and Technical Director for the Eastern Southern Africa region, Global Confectionary R&D Manager and Operations Director for South Korea. 

Chief Markets Officer

Christoph Wegener is a German citizen and joined SIG in 2015 as Head of Global Sales and Business Development. From 2018 to 2021, Christoph held the position of Chief Markets Officer Middle East and Africa before becoming Senior Vice President Commercial for SIG Group in 2022. In August 2023, Christoph was appointed Chief Markets Officer. Prior to SIG, Christoph worked as Principal at The Boston Consulting Group, Germany, for 8 years.

Chief People & Culture Officer

Isabelle Riege is a German citizen and joined SIG in January 2023. She has many years of international HR experience in various senior HR management positions in automotive, food & ingredients, HR services, and engineering industries. Her previous roles included regional HR Director responsibilities across Europe, Middle East and Africa as well as global responsibilities for Group Functions at Barry Callebaut, Adecco and dormakaba.

 

Isabelle holds a master’s degree in international Cultural and Business Studies from the University of Passau in Germany.

Group General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer,
Company Secretary

Philippe Huber is a Swiss citizen and joined SIG in 2018. He is leading the global Legal & Compliance function and is serving as the Secretary of SIG’s Board of Directors.

 

Prior to joining SIG, Philippe was the Corporate Secretary and Senior Associate General Counsel of Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG), after having spent several years in private practice.

 

Philippe holds Master of Law degrees from the University of Oxford (MJur) and the University of Zurich (lic. iur.) and completed a general management program with INSEAD Business School. He is admitted to the bar in Switzerland.

President & General Manager, India, Middle East and Africa

Abdelghany Eladib has held the position of President & General Manager, Middle East and Africa, since 2021. Since November 2023, responsibility for India and Bangladesh has been added as President and General Manager India, Middle East and Africa. Prior to his current position, he held the position of Chief Operating Officer in the SIG Combibloc Obeikan joint venture since he joined in 2017. Abdelghany started his career in 1992 at Procter & Gamble, where he held various positions. Later on, he also worked at other leading FMCG companies in the region. 

President & General Manager, Asia Pacific

 

Angela Lu is a Chinese citizen and joined SIG in 2022 as President & General Manager, Asia-Pacific South. In November 2023, she assumed responsibility for the entire region as President and General Manager Asia Pacific. Angela spent more than 10 years with Nestlé in Switzerland and several Asia Pacific key markets such as Singapore, Thailand, China and Australia in different leadership positions. Previously, she has worked at leading multinational FMCG companies including The Coca-Cola Company, Fonterra, and Gillette. Most recently she worked at Yeo Hiap Seng, a leading brand in the Asian drinks market.

President & General Manager, Europe

José Matthijsse has held the position of President & General Manager, Europe, since she joined SIG in 2021. She came with considerable experience in the food and beverage industry, having held senior and general management positions at FrieslandCampina and Heineken in a number of countries in Europe, Americas and Africa. José is a Dutch citizen and holds a Masters’ degree in Food Science Technology from Wageningen Agricultural University in the Netherlands.

President & General Manager, Americas

Ricardo Rodriguez is a Brazilian and Spanish citizen and has served as President and General Manager of the Americas region since 2015. Ricardo joined the Company in 2003 and previously served as Director & General Manager, South America and Technical Service Director, South America. Prior to joining the Company, Ricardo worked at Tetra Pak in a number of roles, including general manager of the Belo Horizonte branch, key account manager and technical service manager.