Orange strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of two more so-called "CEO delegates" with effect from Jan. 1, 2016.
The company said the board approved a proposal by group chairman and CEO Stéphane Richard to appoint Ramon Fernandez and Pierre Louette to this elevated position. They join Gervais Pellissier, who was appointed CEO delegate in November 2011.
Essentially, the appointment as CEO delegate means that the executives become "corporate officers" with a mandate from the board of directors to represent the company for a set period of time -- usually for around four years -- in the same way as CEO Richard.
"These appointments, which are aligned with practices implemented by other major international groups, will strengthen the group's governance, enabling it to better reflect the diversity of its activities and its challenges," Orange said.
As is the case with Pellissier, the two new CEO delegates will also retain their existing positions with the group.
Fernandez is deputy CEO in charge of group finance and strategy, as well as a member of the board of Meditel and of the supervisory boards of Iris Capital, Orange Polska and Euronext.
Louette is deputy CEO in charge of the general secretariat, Orange Wholesale France, group sourcing and supply chain, the Chrysalid operational efficiency programme and for steering investment strategy in start-ups and coordinating relationships within the digital ecosystem. He is also member of the boards of Jazztel, BuyIn, Dailymotion, Deezer and Iris Capital.
Orange only recently unveiled sweeping changes to its top management structure as part of efforts to realise the targets outlined in the company's Essentials2020 strategy for the next five years.
Those changes all take effect from March 2016 and will see Marc Rennard, who is currently in charge of the France-based company's development in the Middle East and Africa, appointed deputy CEO in charge of customer experience and mobile financial services.
Bruno Mettling, currently deputy CEO of human resources, will be appointed deputy CEO in charge of operations in the Middle East and Africa -- a region referred to by Orange as AMEA. Current Orange Spain CEO Jean-Marc Vignolles will become Mettling's second in command as COO of AMEA operations.
For more:
- see the Orange release
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