Pandora appoints chief HR officer

Jewellery company Pandora has named Erik Schmidt as its new chief HR officer to add “further momentum” to its company-wide turnaround plan, ‘Programme Now’.

Schmidt, will join Pandora on August 12 from Britax, a world leader in child safety products, where he has served as its chief HR officer. Prior to this, he held leading HR positions with HSBC, Avis, Lego, and Diageo.

“Pandora has embarked on a major transformation journey to reignite our brand and assert our position as the leading jewellery company. At the core of this transformation stands the need to support and develop our global workplace and our employees in the best possible way,” said Pandora chief executive Alexander Lacik in a statement. “This requires an HR executive with extensive global transformation experience as well as operational experience from some of our key markets – and that is what Erik Schmidt brings to Pandora.”

Schmidt will replace Pandora’s current senior vice president group HR, Mads Kamp, who following a short handover with Schmidt in August will leave the company.

Lacik, added: “Due to significant changes in requirements for this position, I have agreed with Mads Kamp that he will leave Pandora. I want to express my gratitude and respect for the hard work and the results he has delivered together with his team. He has developed HR during a very challenging time and has put in place many of the HR processes that will help us work more as one global company. I wish him all the best in his future endeavours.”

The appointment coincides with Pandora announcing a relaunch of its jewellery brand that will include a global roll-out of new store designs, new online platforms, as well as global partnerships and new products as it looks to renew its entire customer experience to drive a “higher brand relevance”.