Management Board

Arnd Kaldowski

Chief Executive Officer

(born 1967, German citizen) joined the Sonova Group in October 2017 as Chief Operating Officer and became CEO as of April 1, 2018.

He joined Sonova from Danaher Corporation, where he served in various leadership capacities since 2008, as Group Executive of the Diagnostics Platform and President Beckman Coulter Diagnostics from 2013 until 2017. Arnd Kaldowski led significant sales growth, innovation and productivity initiatives. He also brings significant experience and a successful track record in M&A, commercial excellence, and new product introduction, which he gained during his career at Danaher and as SVP Point-of-Care Solutions at Siemens Medical, following his previous assignments as Investment Director of Atila Ventures and as a Manager with the Boston Consulting Group.

Arnd Kaldowski holds a Master of Science in Physics from the Technical University Darmstadt, Germany, and an MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.

Ludger Althoff

Group Vice President Operations

(born 1964, German citizen) joined the Sonova Group in January 2019 as Vice President (VP) Operations and became Group Vice President Operations as of April 1, 2019.

Before joining Sonova, he was Senior VP Quality and Operations at ABB Power Grids from 2016 until 2018 where he held functional responsibility for all factories and engineering centers of the business. Before that, he held various key operation leadership positions within the Danaher Corporation from 2001 until 2016, including the role of VP Global Operations of Danaherʼs Dental Group and the role of VP Global Operations of Leica Microsystems. Ludger Althoff brings with him over 25 years of international management experience in operations, global sourcing and logistics as well as continuous improvement.

Ludger Althoff completed his education at the City of Mönchengladbach Technical School and was certified Quality Manager (EOQ) by the European Organization for Quality.

(born 1979, Australian and Canadian citizen) joined the Sonova Group in 2009 and held several leadership roles within Hearing Instruments and Audiological Care, before being appointed Group Vice President Consumer Hearing in June 2024.

Her experience in Hearing Instruments includes the leadership of the Unitron brand as Vice President Global Marketing and as Unitron Country Director Australia. Between 2019 and 2024, she was Managing Director of Connect Hearing Canada in Sonovaʼs Audiological Care business. Under her leadership, Connect Hearing grew into a market-leading brand, with high client satisfaction and employee engagement scores. Lilika has a strong track record in delivering impactful product launches, she has rapidly expanded the clinic network through M&A and deployed a company-owned subscription model for hearing aids.

Lilika Beck holds a Masterʼs degree in International Business from the Macquarie University, Australia.

As publicly announced on May 7, 2024, Lilika succeeded Martin Grieder; further details on him can be found in last yearʼs Annual Report.

Katya Kruglova

Group Vice President Human Resources & Communications

(born 1971, British citizen) joined the Sonova Group in March 2023 and was appointed Group Vice President Human Resources & Communications in May 2023.

She has more than 25 years of global HR experience in large-scale organizations and various industries, including medical devices, life sciences and financial services. She joined Sonova Group from GE Healthcare, a global medical technology company, where she led a global HR team located in more than 30 countries as VP Human Resources from 2017 until 2023. She also played a key role in the spin-off of GE Healthcare into a publicly listed company in 2022. Prior to that, from 1998 until 2017, Katya Kruglova held HR positions with growing responsibilities in various General Electric entities, including GE Healthcare Life Sciences and GE Capital.

Katya Kruglova has a Masterʼs degree in English/Spanish Linguistics and Psychology from the State Linguistic University in Moscow, Russia.

Oliver Lux

Group Vice President Audiological Care

(born 1976, Austrian citizen) joined the Sonova Group in 2010 and held various general management roles in Audiological Care, before being appointed as Group Vice President Audiological Care in June 2024.

During Oliver Luxʼs longstanding experience in Audiological Care, he has held managing director roles in various markets, including Austria, Hungary, the US, and most recently Managing Director of Germany. He also held global corporate roles, such as VP of Strategy & Transformation and Commercial Excellence, has helped to strategically expand the global presence of the Audiological Care business and was in charge of business development and M&A to expand sales structures and integrate new stores. He was involved in the launch of “World of Hearing” at a global scale and was also responsible for new markets (e.g. Brazil, China and, Japan).

Before joining Sonova, Oliver was a Principal at Arthur D. Little focusing on consulting Strategy and M&A mandates in Central Europe East (CEE), Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regions.

Oliver Lux holds a Masterʼs degree in Economics and Trade from the Vienna University of Economics & Business in Austria and has an Executive Diploma in Financial Strategy from Oxford University, Saïd Business School, UK.

As publicly announced on May 7, 2024, Oliver succeeded Christophe Fond; further details on him can be found in last yearʼs Annual Report.

Alistair Simpson

Group Vice President Cochlear Implants and President of Advanced Bionics

(born 1969, UK citizen) was appointed Group Vice President Cochlear Implants as of July 2024.

Alistair Simpson is an experienced business executive with an excellent track record in managing full P&Ls as a General Manager, including leading marketing, sales, and R&D functions. He brings longstanding expertise in operational excellence and highly regulated medical devices, including the successful commercialization of multiple new products in a variety of therapeutic areas. Alistair is well-versed in interacting and building relationships with key physician contacts and looks back to more than 10 years of experience in operating as well as building business systems. Thus, he successfully combines customer-centricity with being a process-driven business leader. Additionally, he has multi-region professional experience and has held various senior leadership positions in companies including Johnson & Johnson, Danaher and LivaNova.

Alistair Simpson holds an MBA from the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh, USA, and a Bachelor of Science in Geography from the University of Glasgow, UK.

As publicly announced on May 7, 2024, Alistair succeeded Victoria Carr-Brendel; further details on her can be found in last yearʼs Annual Report.

Robert Woolley

Group Vice President Hearing Instruments

(born 1976, US citizen) joined the Sonova Group in January 2022 and was appointed Group Vice President Hearing Instruments in April 2022.

He previously held the position of Executive Vice President for North America from September 2019 until December 2020 and became Executive Vice President Western Europe in January 2021. Prior to Straumann, Robert worked for Stryker as the Global Vice President and General Manager of Stryker ENT. He has longstanding experience in leadership roles in the medical device and healthcare sector, both in the USA and Switzerland. Robert has a broad range of functional experiences including roles with increasing responsibility in general management, sales and marketing, research, and product- and business development.

Robert Woolley is an engineer by training with a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from Brigham Young University and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.