Since my last message in June, I’m happy to say that my nominations for department heads have now been approved at the September session of the CERN Council. Once again, I’d like to thank the CERN Council, as well as the current management team, for their continued support as I prepare for the 2026–2030 mandate. The 2026–2030 senior leadership team collectively agreed on these nominations, and I thank them for their participation in this collaborative process. I would also like to thank everyone who expressed interest in the department head roles. This allowed us to be aware of a wider range of options for these and different roles within the sectors, which I found extremely beneficial.

CERN Department Heads for 2026–2030

The organigram below illustrates the structure for CERN, with five sectors and 13 departments.
 

I’m pleased to announce the following Council appointments:

Within the Accelerators and Technology sector (ATS), led by Oliver Brüning

• Said Atieh will lead the Engineering (EN) department
• Rhodri Jones will lead the Technology (TE) department
• Roberto Losito will lead the Accelerator Systems (SY) department
• Malika Meddahi will lead the Beams (BE) department

Within the Finance and Human Resources sector (FHR), led by Jan-Paul Brouwer

• Giovanni Anelli will lead the Industry, Procurement and Knowledge Transfer (IPT) department
• Kasia Pokorska will lead the Finance and Administrative Processes (FAP) department
• Lisette Van Den Boogaard will lead the Human Resources (HR) department

Within the Research and Computing sector (RCS), led by Gautier Hamel de Monchenault

• Simone Campana will lead the Information Technology (IT) department
• Giovanna Lehmann will lead the Experimental Physics (EP) department
• Urs Wiedemann will lead the Theoretical Physics (TH) department

Within the new Site Operations sector (SO), led by Mar Capeáns

• Benoît Delille will lead the Occupational Health & Safety and Environmental Protection (HSE) department, formerly a unit, and will continue to report directly to the Director-General
• Cedric Garino will lead the Site and Civil Engineering (SCE) department
• Alex Kohls will lead the new Organisational Support and Improvement (OSI) department, bringing together cross-organisational activities, such as Business Continuity, Organization-wide Continuous Improvement, Corporate Risk and Crisis Management

The Site Operations sector will also host several functions for administrative purposes, including the new Administration of Justice (AJ) office, the Legal Service (LS), the Internal Audit (IA) service and the new internal investigation function. While located in the SO sector, these functions will retain their ability to act independently and will continue to report directly to the Director-General.

The Stakeholder Relations sector (SRS), led by Ursula Bassler, is an evolution of the current International Relations sector. For administrative efficiency, the sector will be composed of two groups rather than departments, with activities aligned with the Organization’s goals.

I would like to congratulate the new department heads, and I look forward to the coming months and years of working together with them and the senior leadership team, which also includes the Chief Information Officer (CIO), Enrica Porcari. 

Next step: Group Leader appointments

With Department Heads selected, we now begin the process for Group Leader appointments. At the Group Leader level, it is important that we retain a level of continuity and stability. Nonetheless, I would like to follow a similar process to that used for the Department Head nominations and give CERN staff members the opportunity to express interest.

The call for expressions of interest for group leadership is scheduled from 29 September until 5 October, with subsequent discussions taking place between 13 and 23 October. We are aiming to agree on the appointments by the end of October. For more details, including how to express interest, see here.

This process reflects my commitment to an open and transparent selection of management positions at CERN. It also prepares the ground for the 2026–2030 mandate in a timely manner, ensuring that we have a balanced and cohesive leadership team throughout the Organization.