Committed to value creation

The Board of Management defines the long-term goals and strategies for the company and sets forth the principles and directives for the resulting corporate policies. It coordinates and monitors the most important activities, defines the company's portfolio, develops and deploys managerial staff, allocates resources and decides on the financial steering and reporting of the Covestro Group.

The members of the Board of Management bear joint responsibility for running the business as a whole. However, the individual members manage the areas assigned to them on their own responsibility within the framework of the decisions made by the full Board. The full Board of Management makes decisions on all matters of fundamental importance and in cases where a decision of me full Board is prescribed by law or otherwise mandatory.

The Members of the Covestro Board of Management

Year of Birth: 1970
Nationality: German

Biography

Dr. Markus Steilemann has been the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) since June 2018. His area of responsibility includes the central functions Strategy, Group Innovation & Sustainability, as well as Corporate Audit, Human Resources and Communications. Additionally, he acts as CFO on an interim basis during September 2023.

Born in 1970 in Geilenkirchen, Germany, Steilemann studied chemistry at RWTH Aachen University and at ETH Zurich. He graduated from Aachen with a doctorate, where he also obtained a diploma in business administration.

In 1999, Steilemann started his professional career with the Bayer Group. From 2008, he held senior management positions in the polycarbonates division of Bayer MaterialScience, the predecessor organization of Covestro. From 2013 to 2015, he headed the entire segment with headquarters in China, where he lived for several years.

Back in Germany, in 2015, Steilemann became a member of the board of Covestro with responsibility for innovation. In the following year, he was appointed head of the Polyurethanes division. In 2017, as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), he assumed responsibility for all three segments of the company, including innovation, marketing and sales.

Steilemann is active in numerous associations and organizations. For example, he is a member of the Board of the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) and of the Executive Committee of the ICCA, the World Association of Chemical Associations. From 2020 to 2022, he held the presidency of PlasticsEurope, the Association of Plastics Manufacturers in Europe. In May 2022, Steilemann became a member of the Supervisory Board of Fuchs Petrolub SE, a global supplier of innovative lubrication solutions. Since September 2022 Markus Steilemann is president of the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI).

Initial appointment: Sept 1, 2015
Current contract: June 1, 2023 - May 31, 2028

Year of Birth: 1976
Nationality: German

Biography

Christian Baier has been a member of the Board of Management since October 2023 as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). In his role as CFO he is responsible for Accounting, Controlling, Taxes and Finance & Insurance. He also oversees Portfolio Development, Investor Relations, Information Technology & Digitalization as well as Law, Intellectual Property & Compliance. Christian Baier is also responsible for country-specific topics in the United States and China.

Born in 1976 in Freiburg/Breisgau, Germany, Baier studied business administration at the University of Cooperative Education Villingen-Schwenningen and received his MBA from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University in New York, USA, in 2004. After completing his studies, he worked for Permira, a global investment company, from 2006 to 2011, among others. Before joining Covestro, he has been a member of the Management Board (Chief Financial Officer) of METRO AG since 2016 and had held various management positions at the international wholesaler from 2011. 

Initial appointment: Oct 1, 2023
Current contract: Oct 1, 2023 - Sep 30, 2026

Year of Birth: 1972
Nationality: German

Biography

Dr. Thorsten Dreier has been a member of the Board of Management since July 2023 as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and the company’s Labor Director since September 2023. As CTO he is the company’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO). He is responsible in that role for the central functions Process Technology, Engineering, Group Health, Safety & Environment (Group HSE) and Group Procurement. He also coordinates the rollout of and compliance with global processes, standards and initiatives in Covestro's production network.

Born in Münster in 1972, he studied chemistry and received his doctorate from the University of Münster in 2001. He began his career in 2002 as a laboratory manager in the Bayer Group and subsequently held various management positions at Bayer, Bayer MaterialScience and Bayer Technology Services. With the spin-off of Covestro, Dreier became global Head of Production & Technology in the Coatings, Adhesives & Specialties business unit and later Head of the Specialty Films and Thermoplastic Polyurethanes businesses. Before the role in the Board of Management, he was the Global Head of the Coatings & Adhesives Business Entity.

Initial appointment: Jul 1, 2023
Current contract: Jul 1,2023 - Jun 30, 2026

Year of Birth: 1963
Nationality: British citizen of Indian origin

Biography

Sucheta Govil has been a member of Covestro's Management Board since August 2019. As Covestro’s Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) she is in charge of the seven business entities, including all business-related processes and areas of production, procurement, application technology to sales. She is also responsible for the three regional Supply Chain & Logistics entities that handle internal and external supply chains worldwide

Being British citizen of Indian origin born in 1963 , Govil studied at the University of Delhi and at the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta, where she graduated with a post-graduate degree in Business Management. During her professional career, she held various management positions in marketing and innovation worldwide, among others at GlaxoSmithKline, PepsiCo, AkzoNobel and DSM.

Initial appointment: Aug 1, 2019
Current contract: Aug 1, 2022 - Jul 31, 2025

Cooperation in a spirit of trust

In all its actions, the Board takes account of the interests of stockholders, employees and other stakeholders. It performs its tasks according to the law, the Articles of Incorporation and the Board of Management's rules of procedure, and the recommendations of the German Corporate Governance Code as stated in the declaration of conformity. lt ensures compliance with the law and internal company directives, and works with the company's other governance bodies in a spirit of trust.

According to the Board of Management's rules of procedure and schedule of duties, the Chair bears particular responsibility for coordinating all Board of Management areas. The Chair represents the Board of Management and Covestro AG and the Group in dealings with the public and other third parties.

Find more information on the Board of Management, including details of the compensation for its members, in the description of the compensation system and in the Covestro Covestro Annual Report.