Michèle Gschwend

Professional Focus

• Over 20 years’ consulting and leadership experience, primarily executive roles in global supply chain management
• Advises boards and executive management of multinational and small- to mid-size companies including family businesses
• Specialised functional expertise in supply chain and procurement
• Strong business expertise in transformation and change management, process optimization and organizational design, strategy and operations management
• Broad industry background ranging from consumer (FMCG) to transportation and industrial
• Published articles on strategic outsourcing, board governance and digitalization
• Fluent in German, English, Spanish and French

Business Expertise

• Senior Client Partner, Consumer and Area Leader, Supply Chain at another of the world’s top executive search firms; member of CEO succession and board practice
• CEO and Owner of Ruoff Factory, a management consulting firm focused on strategy, leadership, supply chain, transformation and change management
• Management Board Europe, Head of Supply Chain Operations at aluminium recycling company Novelis
• Strategy Head, Integrated Supply Chain Europe for Kraft Foods International (now Mondelez International)
• Vice President Europe, Head of Supply Chain at PepsiCo; prior role as Director of Procurement
• Management Board Europe and Vice President, Supply Chain Europe/Asia & Pacific at airline catering firm Gate Gourmet; prior role as Head of Global Supply Chain
• CEO of FutureLog, a procurement, logistics and online platform provider for hospitality services for Swissair Group and Mövenpick Group
• Certified SAP Consultant and Project Lead at PwC
• Marketing and Sales, Assistant to the CEO at Yellow Pages Switzerland

Practice Membership

Global Industry Practices

• Consumer & Retail
• Industrial

Additional Expertise

• Consumer Products
• Family Businesses
• Food & Beverage
• Industrial Manufacturing
• Retail & Apparel
• Supply Chain & Logistics
• Transportation

Education & Certifications

• Ph.D. in business administration & economics - strategic outsourcing from University of Zurich
• CAS in Coaching for Leadership, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU)
• Certified SAP Consultant, SAP Institute in Philadelphia, PA (U.S.)

Awards & Affiliations

• Board Member, Eugster Frismag AG
• Board Member, Motorex (former)
• Acting Chair and Board Member for affiliate companies of Novelis and Gate Gourmet in Switzerland, Germany and Asia (former)
• Advisory Board Member, MBA Supply Chain Management at ETH Zurich (former)