Ahold Delhaize shareholders have approved the appointment of Jolanda Poots-Bijl as a member of the grocery chain’s management board, paving the way for her to become the company’s chief financial officer later this year.
Poots-Bijl will join Ahold Delhaize in mid-August as executive vice president and a member of the executive committee, the retailer announced Wednesday. She is slated to assume the position of CFO Ahold Delhaize on Oct. 1.
Ahold Delhaize announced in May that it had selected Poots-Bijl to join its board and serve as CFO. Poots-Bijl currently serves as CFO of Dutch offshore construction company Van Oord, a position she is set to leave on Aug. 1.
Poots-Bijl will replace Natalie Knight as CFO of Ahold Delhaize, owner of U.S. grocery banners including Stop & Shop, Food Lion, The Giant Company and Giant Food.
The Dutch supermarket company announced in January that Knight, who joined Ahold Delhaize in early 2020, intended to leave. In April, multinational automaker Stellantis announced that it had tapped Knight as its next CFO and that she would join the Amsterdam-based company, owner of car brands including Chrysler, Jeep and Fiat, in July.
Poots-Bilj indicated that she will make environmental concerns a key priority when she joins Ahold Delhaize. “I will dedicate my 20 years of CFO experience in various industries, my passion, time and high level of energy to the company and its strategy, with a keen eye on people, sustainability and innovation,” she said in a statement.
Pieter van Oord, CEO of Van Oord, where Poots-Bilj has served as the company’s top financial executive since 2016, also highlighted Poots-Bilj’s interest in the environment.
“She has professionalised our finance and control functions and played a major role in our new strategy, Building the Future Together. On top of this, she has shown a great passion for sustainability. We wish her all the success in her new role,” van Oord said in a statement about her departure from the construction company.
