Bombardier has made several leadership shifts intended to advance long-term goals that include expanding its defence and services business, strengthening its product development team and expanding through mergers and acquisitions.
The Montreal aircraft manufacturer revealed the changes on 20 January, describing them as building off successes last year that include shedding debt and ramping aircraft deliveries.
The company previously combined its aircraft sales and defence business into a single division, led until recently by JC Gallagher. Following Gallagher’s departure last year, Bombardier split those segments up.
Now, Bombardier has rolled its defence business into its product development and engineering division, and combined its aircraft sales and aftermarket services businesses.
Bombardier has named Paul Sislian as executive vice-president of aircraft sales and aftermarket services. Sislian formerly headed aftermarket services and corporate strategy.
Bringing sales and aftermarket services together “is really about having a unified approach to customers”, Bombardier says.
“Sislian will continue leading the company’s fast-growing, number one-ranked service network and take charge of the worldwide aircraft sales teams for business jets and defence,” it adds.
Longtime Bombardier executive Stephen McCullough is the company’s new executive vice-president of engineering, product development and defence.
McCullough was previously senior vice-president of engineering and product development. Prior, he headed product development for the Global 7000 and 8000 programme and for the shuttered Learjet 85 programme.
“McCullough’s leadership has brought a second-to-none portfolio to the business aviation market and the company will broaden its product development ambitions into the defence industry,” says Bombardier.
McCullough joined Bombardier’s Belfast, Northern Ireland site in 1989.
Additionally, Bombardier has hired former Leonardo DRS executive Sandra Hodgkinson as senior vice-president of strategy and mergers and acquisitions. She takes strategy management from Sislian.
Hodgkinson’s goals include “driving growth organically and strategically through M&A activities in all business segments”, the company said on 20 January.
Hodgkinson joins Bombardier after 14 years leading strategy and corporate development for Leonardo’s defence business. In that role she was based near Washington, DC and “carried out multiple successful M&A mandates”, Bombardier says.
Earlier, Hodgkinson worked for the US Department of War, including as deputy assistant secretary of defence. She was also in the US Navy’s Judge Advocate General Corps.
Additionally, Bombardier says Mercedes Glockseisen will be its new general counsel and corporate secretary, succeeding Pierre Gagnon, who will retire in June.
Glockseisen has worked more than 10 years managing Bombardier’s contracts and legal services teams.
