Stephanie Coßmann appointed to LANXESS Board of Management

December 16, 2019 2:52 pm

Stephanie Coßmann (46), currently head of the Human Resources group function at LANXESS, has been appointed by the supervisory board to become member of the Board of Management and Labor Director. Coßmann, who holds a doctorate in law, will take up her new position on 1 January, 2020. She succeeds Rainier van Roessel (62), who will resign from the board and retire at the end of the year.

Paying tribute to van Roessel’s achievements, Chairman of the supervisory board, Matthias Wolfgruber, said, “Thirteen years as Labor Director of LANXESS that speaks for itself. Rainier van Roessel has skillfully helped shape the company over this long period. He has always been focused on objectivity, efficiency and collegial cooperation, both in his dealings with employees and in dialogue with negotiating partners and trade unions. Cooperation with the supervisory board was also characterised by fairness, mutual understanding and trust. On behalf of the entire supervisory board, I would like to express my sincere thanks to van Roessel and wish him all the best for his well deserved retirement.”

Rainier van Roessel joined Bayer in 1988 after completing his business studies and doctorate. In 2004, when LANXESS was established, he became head of the Rubber Chemicals business unit. In addition to this role, he was appointed managing director of LANXESS N.V. in Antwerp, Belgium, in 2006. Since 2007, van Roessel has been a member of the Board of Management and Labor Director of LANXESS AG.

Stephanie Coßmann studied law in Paris, France, and Muenster, Germany. After working as a lawyer for several years, she joined LANXESS in 2004. Here she was responsible for setting up the processes and structures required in a listed company in various areas and held various management positions in the legal and internal audit group functions. From 2014, she headed the general law department in the legal and compliance group function. Since 1 July, 2017, she has been head of the Human Resources group function, which she and her team have completely realigned.

Matthias Zachert said, “In recent years, I have come to know Stephanie Coßmann as an absolutely reliable, experienced and competent colleague. I am looking forward to an even closer cooperation with her and extend a warm welcome to her to the Board of Management.”

New management for HR and Legal group functions

Katja Conner (51), currently Senior Director HR EMEA at U.S. chemicals company Celanese, will succeed Stephanie Coßmann as head of Human Resources.

Katja Conner studied law in Heidelberg after completing her training as a foreign language correspondent. Her professional career took her through several positions in the personnel department at Hoechst AG and later the Celanese Group.

Jochen Schroer (63), who has been head of the legal and compliance group function for many years, will also retire on 31 December, 2019. His successor will be Markus Lehner (48), currently head of Compliance & Corporate Audit at LANXESS.

After having studied law, Jochen Schroer worked in academic research, followed by an assignment in the central staff of the management board of former WestLB. He joined the legal department of Bayer AG in 1988. In 1994, he became head of the legal department of the affiliate Haarmann & Reimer GmbH. In 2002, Schroer came back to Leverkusen, where he took over as head of the legal department of the newly founded Bayer Chemicals AG. In this position, he was closely involved in the founding of LANXESS, conducting contract negotiations regarding the spin-off from Bayer AG. Since 2005, he has headed the legal department of LANXESS, and since 2014 also Compliance and Corporate Audit, Corporate Security as well as Country and Agency Management.

After studying law, Markus Lehner worked in the legal department of Bayer AG before joining LANXESS in 2004. Here he was responsible for the legal support of several business and corporate divisions. In 2009, he took over the management of international M&A projects in the Mergers and Acquisitions group function. Since 2014, Lehner has been head of compliance, policies, data protection and corporate audit in the Legal and Compliance group function.

Zachert said, “Jochen Schroer is an outstanding and versatile lawyer who has played a key role in our success since LANXESS was founded. He was an important advisor to me and the entire company in many situations. I am very grateful to him.”

“I would like to thank Markus Lehner for his work to date. On behalf of the entire Board of Management I wish him every success and all the best in his new role. I warmly welcome Katja Conner on board of LANXESS,” said Zachert.