- Hubert Altschäffl appointed Chief Human Resources Officer and Labor Director at MAN Truck & Bus SE in Munich
- Arne Puls becomes Chief Representative and is to become Chief Human Resources Officer at Volkswagen Financial Services AG in Brunswick at a later date following approval by the supervisory authorities
- Dr. Alexandra Baum-Ceisig succeeds Thorsten Falk in the executive board team of Volkswagen Group Services GmbH in Wolfsburg
- Dr. Frank Ischner succeeds Hubert Altschäffl as Head of Group Human Resources Management / Group Human Resources Top Management at Volkswagen AG in Wolfsburg
- Volkswagen Group’s Chief Human Resources Officer Gunnar Kilian: “We are strengthening our HR team in key positions in order to successfully drive our company’s transformation in its crucial phase.”
In recent years, Human Resources at the Volkswagen Group has established itself as a driver of the company’s transformation into a leading provider of sustainable and software-oriented mobility. In order to rigorously press ahead with this transformation in its crucial phase, Human Resources is reorganizing its staffing of key positions.
Hubert Altschäffl has been appointed to the Executive Board of the Munich-based truck and bus manufacturer MAN Truck & Bus SE with effect from April 1, 2024. Altschäffl, who is currently the Head of Group Human Resources Management / Group Human Resources Top Management at the Volkswagen Group, will become Chief Human Resources Officer and Labor Director on the board. He thus succeeds Arne Puls, who at the same time will take charge of HR and Organization at Volkswagen Financial Services AG as Chief Representative and is to become Chief Human Resources Officer at Volkswagen Financial Services AG in Brunswick at a later date following approval by the supervisory authorities.
Dr. Alexandra Baum-Ceisig, who has held this function since 2020, will move to the executive board team of Volkswagen Group Services GmbH on April 1, 2024, where she will take over the HR board department from Thorsten Falk, who is leaving the company after more than 32 years, including five years as Managing Director of HR at Volkswagen Group Services, under a retirement program.
Hubert Altschäffl will be succeeded at the same time as Group Human Resources Management / Group Human Resources Top Management at the Volkswagen Group by Dr. Frank Ischner, who has been Head of Industrial Relations & HR and Social Affairs at Porsche AG since 2017.
Gunnar Kilian, member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG who has functional responsibility for Human Resources and for the Truck & Bus division, believes these personnel changes fundamentally strengthen Human Resources. According to Kilian, the Group is in the crucial phase of its transformation. In order to successfully accomplish it, it is important to strengthen central functions of his board department in terms of personnel.
Kilian states: “Hubert Altschäffl will continue to build on the successful path pursued by MAN Truck & Bus together with the company’s Executive Board. He knows the company very well and has also been highly impressive in his Group function. With his team spirit, Hubert knows the levers and HR tools needed to ensure MAN’s continued success. Arne Puls has laid the foundations for this success at MAN in recent years and, backed by his excellent know-how, will also inject new impetus and assume a key role at Volkswagen Financial Services AG.”
Kilian adds: “I wish to thank Alexandra Baum-Ceisig, who has successfully initiated the personnel realignment of Volkswagen Financial Services since 2020, for her outstanding commitment. In particular, she excelled with her management of the HR challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic. With her expertise, Alexandra will now strengthen our Volkswagen Group Services at an important juncture.”
Kilian thanks Thorsten Falk, who is leaving the company under a retirement program, for his dedication. “Thorsten Falk has shaped HR at Volkswagen Group Services over the past years and has enriched the HR board department of Volkswagen AG with his professional commitment over the past decades.”
Gunnar Kilian also describes Dr. Frank Ischner’s move from Porsche AG back to Volkswagen AG in Wolfsburg as an enrichment. “Our management has a key role to play in our transformation. In Frank Ischner, we have gained an HR expert who knows how we can provide our managers and top decision-makers with targeted support in the crucial phase of our transformation in order to successfully accelerate our Group’s path to the future.”
Hubert Altschäffl studied business administration in Regensburg and, after gaining his degree, began his career in Human Resources at MAN in Munich. After holding positions in Management Development and Organization at the truck and bus manufacturer, Altschäffl was responsible for Compensation & Benefits at the then holding company of the MAN Group from 2008 on. In 2013, he returned to MAN Truck & Bus and headed the Management Policy and Organization department. Before joining TRATON SE, he played a crucial role in building the truck holding company. In 2019, Altschäffl moved to TRATON SE, where he was responsible for providing full support for top management at the Volkswagen Group’s heavy commercial vehicle group, which includes MAN Truck & Bus, SCANIA, Volkswagen Truck & Bus and now Navistar. He moved to the Volkswagen Group in Wolfsburg in 2022. Since then, Hubert Altschäffl has been Head of Group Human Resources Management and, since the beginning of 2023, also Head of Group Human Resources Top Management.
After studying information technology in Osnabrück, Arne Puls began working in Development Control and Production Planning at Volkswagen AG in Wolfsburg in 1998. In 2001, he moved to Human Resources, where he assumed various management functions. As Head of Group HR Management, Arne Puls was responsible for performance and talent management, management remuneration and policies, and the Global Assignments department, among other things. In January 2022, he moved to the Executive Board of MAN Truck & Bus SE, where he has since been Head of the HR board department and Labor Director.
Dr. Alexandra Baum-Ceisig joined Volkswagen AG in 2006 after completing her doctorate at the University of Osnabrück in 2002 and spent eight years as a specialist and General Secretary of the General and Group Works Council. In 2015, she headed the Institute for Labor and Human Resources Management at Volkswagen AG for one year. From 2016 to 2018, Baum-Ceisig was an authorized officer (Prokurist) at AutoVision Zeitarbeit. Between 2018 and 2020, she was Head of HR at Volkswagen AG in Wolfsburg, where she was initially responsible for the Brunswick plant and then for the non-production departments. In 2020, Baum-Ceisig then moved to Volkswagen Financial Services AG in Brunswick, where she took over as board member in charge of HR and Organization.
After studying law, completing his doctorate and beginning his career at the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations, Dr. Frank Ischner joined Human Resources at Porsche AG in Stuttgart in 2001. In 2004, he became Director Policies and Labor Law before moving to Volkswagen AG in Wolfsburg in 2013 as Head of Collective Bargaining and HR Strategy. Since 2017, Dr. Frank Ischner has been Vice President Industrial Relations & HR and Social Affairs at Porsche AG.
Thorsten Falk began working in Pre-Production Logistics at Volkswagen in 1997 after training as an energy electronics technician and then studying supply engineering in Brunswick. After posts in Brunwick and Dresden, Falk moved to HR in Wolfsburg in 2006. After holding several executive functions, he was appointed to the management team of Volkswagen Group Retail Deutschland GmbH in 2015. Thorsten Falk has been a member of management of Volkswagen Group Services GmbH since 2019.
