Good morning.
Daimler Truck Holding’s board members said they had specific qualities in mind for the firm's new CFO, who'll be tasked with guiding the business during a “historic transformation” of the industry.
Enter Siemens AG veteran Eva Scherer, who will begin at Daimler Truck as CFO, and as a member of the board of management, on April 1. Scherer, the company announced on Thursday, is receiving a three-year contract as the first female CFO at the multibillion-dollar German vehicle manufacturer, which produces buses and trucks under brands such as Mercedes-Benz.
She'll succeed Jochen Goetz, finance chief since July 2021, who died unexpectedly in August. (Chairman Martin Daum has been serving as interim CFO.)
Daimler Truck ranks no. 56 on the first-ever Fortune 500 Europe list that debuted in November. It was spun off from Daimler AG in 2021 and listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange. Daimler Truck registered $53.6 billion in revenue in 2022, its first year of independent operations, returning $2.8 billion in earnings. Its revenue reached $53.58 billion as of Nov. 8.
Alyse Bodine, co-lead of the Financial Officers Practice at executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles, told me the firm’s proprietary data indicates that within the Europe 500, 28% of CFOs hired in 2023 were gender diverse, up from just 11% in 2021. “This points to an intentional focus on diverse talent in searches for the top finance role,” Bodine added.
When the CFO position became vacant, the board embarked on an “intensive" selection process, Joe Kaeser, chairman of Daimler Truck's supervisory board, said in a statement. In addition to professional expertise, the board placed a "particular emphasis on open-mindedness, diversity, potential and enthusiasm to drive change," Kaeser said. “Eva Scherer has shown these attributes in a convincing manner.”
Scherer most recently served as EVP and global head of investor relations at Siemens AG, where she began her career in 2003. After earning an MBA, Scherer took on leadership roles including VP and head of finance solutions and services Asia Pacific/Middle East. She later became CFO for the Rail Infrastructure and Mobility Software business units.
"A topic that has been close to my heart for a long time is sustainable transportation and I will contribute to this topic in a new capacity," Scherer wrote Thursday in a LinkedIn post about joining Daimler Truck, which is focusing long term on low-carbon vehicles. By the end of 2022, the company had eight zero-emission bus and truck models in production, and in 2023 it launched Rizon, a line of zero-emission trucks in the U.S.
‘Open-mindedness, agility, and an overall growth mindset’
In reading the statements from Daimler Truck board members about Scherer’s appointment, there was a continual theme: The board didn’t want a traditional back-office type of CFO. Kaeser mentioned open-mindedness, diversity, and the ability to drive change. And Michael Brecht, deputy chairman of the supervisory board, said that Scherer “convinced me in seeing herself as a real team player,” adding, “we can only master the historic transformation of our industry if management and employee representatives work together in trust.”
Are more organizations reconsidering the dynamics of a CFO role?
“We’ve seen an increased focus on finance executives being good business partners and creative problem solvers and possessing strong leadership traits—including demonstrating open-mindedness and strong communications skills—all while having traditional finance acumen,” Bodine said.
Jeff Constable, who leads the executive search firm Korn Ferry’s Financial Officers Practice in North America, and co-leads it globally, also told me that while “companies are generally looking for strong leaders," they also want CFOs to "score high" on the financial, strategic, and operational dimensions of the job. And they're always in need of great communicators and diverse ideas, he said.
“I cannot think of an executive search in recent memory," Constable said, "where a diverse candidate-sourcing effort was not a priority for our client—or for us."
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CFO Daily is off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday and will be back in your inbox on Tuesday, Jan. 16.
Have a good weekend.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
