Management Board

Mathias Miedreich
Chief Executive Officer

German, 46

Education
International Business Management - Erlangen-Nuremberg Friedrich-Alexander University

Experience
Mathias Miedreich joined Umicore and was appointed Chief Executive Officer in October 2021, after serving as Executive Vice-President of the Clean Mobility division of Faurecia, a global automotive supplier with a strong focus on sustainable mobility. Mathias started his career in Strategy Consulting at KPMG and then moved to the automotive industry, in which he accumulated more than 20 years of experience in various senior leadership roles in Europe and Asia.

Prior to joining Faurecia in 2013 as their Vice President Strategy & New Technologies for the Clean Mobility business, he worked at Siemens and Continental.

Filip Platteeuw
Chief Financial Officer

Belgian, 49

Education
Applied Economics – Ghent University, Belgium
Financial Management – Vlerick Management School, Belgium

Experience
Filip Platteeuw was appointed Chief Financial Officer in November 2012. He joined Umicore in 2004 and served as VP Corporate Development from 2010 to 2012 and was instrumental in streamlining the business portfolio, including the divestment of the copper and zinc smelting operations.

Prior to Umicore, Filip worked for KBC Bank, taking up positions in corporate banking, equity market research and investment banking.

Géraldine Nolens
Chief Legal Counsel, Executive Vice-President

Belgian, 50

Education
Master of Laws – University of Chicago Law School, USA
European Economic Law – Julius Maximilians Universität Würzburg, Germany
Law – KU Leuven, Belgium

Experience
Géraldine Nolens was appointed Chief Counsel for the Group in 2009 and joined the Management Board in 2015.

She started her career at the international law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton before joining GDF Suez (now Engie) in 2001, where she was Electrabel’s Chief Legal Officer for Southern Europe, France and new European markets. Géraldine’s career includes periods working and living in the US, Germany, Italy and Belgium.

Denis Goffaux
Executive Vice-President, Recycling

Belgian, 54

Education
Mining Engineering – Université de Liège, Belgium

Experience
Denis Goffaux was appointed Executive Vice-President Energy & Surface Technologies in 2018. He took up the position of Executive Vice-President Recycling as of 1 April 2021. Previously he served as Chief Technology Officer from 2010 to September 2018 and EVP for Precious Metals Refining from 2015 to 2018.

Prior to that, he occupied successive business line and country management functions in China and Japan. Denis began his career at Umicore with Research & Development in Olen, before moving to what was then our Cobalt & Energy Products Business Unit.

Ralph Kiessling
Executive Vice-President, Energy Surface Technologies

German, 56

Education
PhD Chemical Engineering – University of Erlangen, Germany

Experience
Ralph Kiessling was appointed Executive Vice-President Energy & Surface Technology on 1 March 2021. Before this he was Executive Vice-President Catalysis since 1 February 2019, after serving as Senior Vice President Operations for Automotive Catalysts since 2015.

He previously occupied successive management functions in process technology, production and business controlling, including 5 years in China. In 2012 he moved to India where he built Umicore’s automotive catalyst plant. Prior to joining Umicore, Ralph held management positions in the Degussa group from 1995.

Bart Sap
Executive Vice-President, Catalysis

Belgian, 43

Education
Commercial Science – Vlekho Brussels, Belgium

Experience
Bart Sap was appointed Executive Vice-President Catalysis on 1 March 2021. Bart joined Umicore in 2004 as a controller for Cobalt & Specialty Materials and, after successive assignments in Korea and Belgium covering finance, supply of raw materials, business development and refining operations, he became Senior Vice-President for Cobalt & Specialty Materials and Supply at the beginning of 2020.

Frank Daufenbach
Chief Strategy Officer

French, 43

Education
Management - HEC Paris, France

Experience
Frank Daufenbach joined Umicore’s Management Board as Chief Strategy Officer in December 2021. In this newly created role, Frank will support the Management Board in their strategic choices, both within and across Business Groups, as they are preparing Umicore’s next growth phase as a leader in clean mobility materials and recycling.

Frank brings strong international and automotive experience in various strategy and operational roles, especially in clean mobility. He previously worked at Faurecia, a leading global automotive supplier with a strong focus on sustainable mobility, where he served as Vice President Strategy and Marketing of the Clean Mobility business group. His prior roles include those of consultant at Monitor Deloitte, KPMG and Oliver Wyman.

Marc Grynberg
Former Chief Executive Officer

Marc Grynberg was appointed Chief Executive Officer in November 2008 after heading the Automotive Catalysts business unit from 2006 to 2008, and serving as CFO of Umicore from 2000 until 2006.

He joined Umicore in 1996 as Group Controller. Prior to joining Umicore, Marc worked for DuPont de Nemours in Brussels and Geneva.

Marc Grynberg's mandate was terminated in mutual agreement with effect on 1 November 2021.

An Steegen
Former Chief Technology Officer

An Steegen joined Umicore and was appointed Chief Technology Officer in October 2018, after serving as Executive Vice President Semiconductor Technology and System R&D at imec, a leading research center with a focus on nanoelectronics and digital technology innovation.

Prior to joining imec in 2010, An worked at IBM’s Semiconductor Research & Development center in Fishkill, NY and in the last several years of service at IBM, was in charge of the bulk CMOS technology development.

An Steegen resigned on 1 October 2021.