The Board of Directors of RUAG has appointed Markus A. Zoller as the new CEO of the RUAG Defence division and a member of the Executive Board. He holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the ETH (Federal Institute of Technology) and a PhD in economics from the University of St Gallen. In recent years he has held a number of senior management positions at international technology companies. Markus Zoller will take up his new position in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Markus Zoller is 44 years old and holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the ETH and a PhD in economics from the University of St Gallen. He has a long-standing track record as the CEO of large, international business units at globally active technology companies. These include ABB, Alstom and Siemens. At Siemens he worked as CEO of a global division with nine locations and branches in over 20 countries.

Markus Zoller’s specialism included multifaceted company restructurings, managing complex project portfolios, global expansion, the market launch of new products and services, mergers and acquisitions and the integration of additional business units into the Group. Markus Zoller latterly worked as an independent consultant, and managed and developed a number of SMEs.

In his capacity as CEO of the RUAG Defence division, Markus Zoller will be responsible for continuing the corporate strategy and driving international growth on military and civilian markets by identifying opportunities and acting on them with new technologies, products and services. He will also be responsible for expanding relations with the company’s main customer, the Swiss Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport.

Markus Zoller is engaged as a lecturer at the ETH, the University of Applied Sciences in Business Administration and the SGO Business School in specialist areas of project, program and portfolio management, infrastructure projects and topics relating to business administration.  He is also President of the Association for the certification for persons in management (VZPM).

Markus Zoller comes from the city of Basel-Stadt (Switzerland) and has two daughters. The former Captain and Company Commander in the Swiss Army is an enthusiastic rower, plays golf and is interested in design and modern architecture.