Jens-Thomas Pietralla

Jens-Thomas Pietralla leads the firm’s Board & CEO Advisory Partners in Europe and serves as Global Head of the Industrial & Natural Resources Sector. In this capacity, he leads the firm’s business with clients in Aerospace & Defense, Automotive, Capital & Electrical Goods, Chemicals, Energy and Industrial Services.

Jens-Thomas helps companies build superior boards and advises his clients on leadership matters, succession planning and strategy. Over the course of his career, Jens-Thomas has conducted more than 25 enterprise CEO succession projects for global market leaders in Europe and the U.S., ranging from USD 500m to USD 150bn revenues.

Jens-Thomas joined Russell Reynolds Associates after four years as President and CEO of private equity-owned Navico Holding, a global market leader in marine electronics, with 2,500 staff across three continents. He was responsible for establishing the company through multiple acquisitions, defining strategy and creating a family of brands under the Navico umbrella, resulting in enhanced management, operations, and product offerings to develop the most profitable, globally-integrated player in the industry.

Earlier in his career, Jens-Thomas was Chief Marketing Officer at Siemens, where he significantly increased the global unaided brand awareness. He began his career at McKinsey & Company, spending six years as a management consultant in New York and Munich.

Jens-Thomas held Chairman roles at Torqeedo GmbH (electromobility) and Ocivan Invest AS, Vice-Chairman at Reimann Investors KGaA, served as a non-executive Director on the Navico Holding AS board, and as an advisory board member of NYSE-listed Pontem Corp.