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Changes in UPM's Group Executive Team: Sangeeta Pandey appointed Executive Vice President, Human Resources
(UPM, Helsinki, October 29, 2026 at 9:30 EET) - Sangeeta Pandey has been appointed Executive Vice President, Human Resources at UPM. She will be a member of UPM's Group Executive Team and report to Massimo Reynaudo, President and CEO. She will assume her role on January 1, 2027, and will be based in Helsinki, Finland.
Pandey, born in 1969, has extensive international experience in human resources. Before her current role as an Independent Executive Advisor & Coach she worked for Metro AG from 2018 to 2025, most recently as Senior Vice President, Global Talent & Organisational Development with a responsibility for Global HR Centers of Expertise covering over 100,000 people in over 30 countries. During her tenure at AkzoNobel in 2009-2018 she worked in several senior leadership roles, most recently as Global Director, Talent, Culture, Learning & Development. She has also held senior HR roles at Mahindra & Mahindra, Xerox and Bharat Petroleum/Bharat Shell.
She holds a Master of Science in Executive Coaching, an MBA in Human Resources, and a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. She is Dutch citizen.
"Sangeeta joins us with over 30 years of broad HR leadership experience across Europe, Asia and the Americas and strong business acumen. Her experience in large, complex and multicultural organizations provides a strong foundation to support UPM's strategy and people agenda," says Massimo Reynaudo.
Pandey succeeds Riitta Savonlahti, who has reached her contractual retirement age after serving as UPM's Executive Vice President, Human Resources since 2004.
"On behalf of the entire company and the Group Executive Team, I would like to thank Riitta for the significant impact she has had in the strategic transformation of UPM during the past two decades. Her vision, dedication and determination has been instrumental to UPM's performance-led, value-based and human-centric leadership and company culture," says Reynaudo.
Savonlahti will continue in her role and as a member of the Group Executive Team until the end of 2026. She will leave the company in the first quarter of 2027 after successful transition of the position to her successor.
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UPM is a material solutions company, renewing products and entire value chains with an extensive portfolio of renewable fibres, advanced materials, decarbonization solutions, and communication papers. Our performance in sustainability has been recognized by third parties, including EcoVadis and the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices. We operate globally and employ approximately 15,100 people worldwide, with annual sales of approximately €9.7 billion. Our shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd.
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