Puma appoints Maria Valdes to the role of Chief Product Officer (CPO) and thus to the board.
Valdes, who has been General Manager for the Sportstyle division at Puma, will take up her new position on January 1, 2023, the sports goods specialist from Herzogenaurach announced on Thursday. As product manager, the 38-year-old will be responsible for the areas of sport style, motor sports, team sports, running/training, basketball and accessories. She is also responsible for the brand’s creative strategy and the company’s go-to-market process.
“As General Manager Sportstyle, Maria has demonstrated her strong product knowledge, great service orientation towards our trading partners and in-depth knowledge of our target group,” said Puma Managing Director Arne Freundt. “I believe her positive energy and relentless drive to make things happen makes her the ideal candidate for this role.”
New CPO comes from within the company
Before Valdes assumed the position of General Manager Sportstyle in 2019, she was Senior Head of Product Line Management Footwear. She has been with Puma since 2010 and previously worked in marketing and product management at the cosmetics group L’Oréal and Zara’s parent company Inditex.
In addition to Freundt and Valdes, the board of Puma SE will consist of CFO Hubert Hinterseher and Chief Sourcing Officer Anne-Laure Descours.
It was only in November that the staff wheel at the top of Puma turned after managing director Björn Gulden switched to competitor Adidas to succeed Kasper Rorsted there. Arne Freundt took over as CEO of Puma for Gulden. Like Valdes, Freundt came from within the company and was previously a member of the Management Board as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO).