Dive Brief:

• Ahold Delhaize announced Monday that its supervisory board has nominated Jolanda Poots-Bijl to join its management board and become the company’s next chief financial officer.
• Poots-Bijl would join the Dutch grocery operator from offshore construction company Van Oord, where she has been CFO since 2016. 
• Poots-Bijl would take over the role currently held by Natalie Knight, who is leaving the company after three years to join automaker Stellantis. 

Dive Insight:

Ahold Delhaize described Poots-Bijl as an executive with a “long-standing finance career” who would help the execute its growth strategy, called Leading Together, which the company announced in 2018 and then expanded in 2021.

Along with her most recent experience at Van Oord, Poots-Bijl has served as CFO at European IT Service provider Ordina and international construction company Volker Wessels, according to the announcement. 

She’s also had supervisory experience, including being on the boards of paints and coatings manufacturer AkzoNobel, Dutch transport conglomerate Pon Holdings and retail chain Blokker, which is now named Mirage Retail Group.

If Poots-Bijl’s nomination is approved, she would join Ahold Delhaize in mid-August as executive vice president of finance and a member of the grocer’s executive committee before starting as its CFO on Oct. 1.

“She is a seasoned CFO with broad international working experience and a passion for digital transformation and sustainability,” Ahold Delhaize CEO Frans Muller said about Poots-Bijl in a statement. “She has relevant experience in a wide range of sectors and brings finance leadership that can help us deliver our Leading Together strategy. She is a passionate leader with a keen eye for talent development and will be a strong addition to our Executive team.”  

Ahold Delhaize noted earlier this year that its Leading Together strategy aims to create more agile organizations, capture more scale and empower its workers to take actions that support efficiency.

Ahold Delhaize noted Poots-Bijl will go through a six-week induction period with “immersive” onboarding that would allow her a chance to better understand the company’s brands and teams before stepping into the CFO role.

Ahold Delhaize began its search for a new CFO earlier this year after announcing in January that Knight planned to depart for another job. Knight will remain with Ahold Delhaize through early July.

Ahold Delhaize said the vote on Poots-Bijl’s nomination to the management board will come at a special shareholders’ meeting, with a date soon to be announced.