Generational Change in the Managing Board of SMS group

• Jochen Burg is taking over as Chair of the Managing Board on October 1, 2023
• Fabíola Fernandez joins from service specialist Gegenbauer as future CFO
• Burkhard Dahmen (CEO) and Torsten Heising (CFO) will accompany the handover until March 2024
• Supervisory Board Chair Edwin Eichler: Right time for a generational change to drive performance and the expansion of the service business

SMS group is implementing a strategic generational change at the top level of management: on October 1, 2023, Jochen Burg (43), currently Executive Vice President Technical Service, will become CEO and Chair of the SMS Managing Board. He will be taking over the position from Burkhard Dahmen, who has been with the company for more than 33 years, 20 of them on the Managing Board and eleven years as its Chair. Jochen Burg has been with SMS since 2008 and has successfully established and expanded the global service business over recent years.

In addition, Fabíola Fernandez (46) will join the company on October 10, 2023 and will assume the role of CFO on the Managing Board on January 1, 2024. She is taking over from Torsten Heising, who has held various management functions at SMS since 2006 and was appointed CFO in 2017. Fabíola Fernandez joins us from Gegenbauer SE & Co. KG, a leading facility management service company, where she currently serves as Chief Financial Officer and co-CEO.

Burkhard Dahmen and Torsten Heising will accompany the handover until March 2024 in order to ensure a seamless transition in all projects.

Chair of the Supervisory Board of SMS group, Edwin Eichler: ‟Burkhard Dahmen and Torsten Heising have made a major contribution to gearing SMS group towards the future. In view of the good market situation, now is the ideal time to actively shape this generational change and also to usher in a new era. Jochen Burg and Fabíola Fernandez are the ideal fit for this. Together, we intend to focus on the systematic expansion of our service business, the further technological development of our plants and equipment, and the optimization of our performance. 
My sincere thanks go to Burkhard Dahmen and Torsten Heising who have devoted their professional lives to SMS group and, in doing so, have played a tremendous role in successfully shaping and growing the company, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. I wish Burkhard Dahmen and Torsten Heising all the very best for the future.” 

Jochen Burg, future CEO of SMS group: ‟I am very much looking forward to continuing the success story of SMS group together with my colleagues on the Managing Board. We have set a clear course for the years ahead. We have the best preconditions and, above all, great team members all over the world, so that together we can achieve our ambitious goals.”

Fabíola Fernandez, future CFO of SMS group: ‟SMS group has very exciting and promising years ahead. There are not many companies that are able to significantly shape the transformation of an entire industry and I am therefore all the more excited to be part of this important challenge and to use my experience to ensure a successful and profitable future for the company.”