Executive leadership team

Bart Sap was appointed Chief Executive Officer in May 2024, after serving as Executive Vice-President Catalysis from 2021 to 2024 and Senior Vice-President for Cobalt & Specialty Materials and Supply from 2020 to 2021.

He joined Umicore in 2004 as controller for Cobalt & Specialty Materials and occupied several management functions in Korea and Belgium covering finance, supply and refining of battery raw materials, business development and operations.

Bart holds a Master’s Degree in Commercial Science from Vlekho in Brussels, Belgium, with majors in Accountancy and Taxation.

Wannes was appointed Chief Financial Officer in October 2022. He joined Umicore in 2005 and accumulated over 10 years’ experience as a controller of several business units, building up a strong expertise in financial controlling including strategic planning, introducing new systems and managing financial risk.

Subsequently Wannes held positions in general management in Belgium and France, and served as Senior Vice President for Electro-Optic Materials. Prior to Umicore, Wannes worked for PriceWaterhouseCoopers in audit & advisory.

Wannes holds a Master's degree in Business Engineering from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and an MBA from the Vlerick Business School.

Ana Fonseca Nordang was appointed Executive Vice-President People and Organization on September 1st 2023.

She brings over 20 years of international experience in various executive human resources roles and spent the largest part of her career at Equinor, previously Statoil, where most recently she served as Senior Vice President Renewables. Prior to that, she was the group’s Chief Human Resources Officer.

Ana holds a Bachelor Degree in Politics & International Relations from the University of Kent, Canterbury, UK and an MBA from the George Washington  University School of Business, USA.

Karena Cancilleri will start as Executive Vice-President of Battery Materials on April 1st 2025. Karena Cancilleri brings a 30-year track record in the chemical, technical textiles and metals industries at private equity, stock-listed and family-owned companies.

She currently serves as President Foundry Technologies. Before Vesuvius Plc., she was VP-Engineered Products at Beaulieu International Group NV and held Director roles at FiberVisions Corp., Kraton Polymers LLC and Shell Chemicals LP. She is an Independent Director of the Board of Directors of DEME Group NV.

She holds a master’s degree in chemistry from the University of Turin, Italy, and an MBA of Strathclyde Graduate Business School of Glasgow in the UK.

Geert Olbrechts was appointed Chief Technology Officer on August 1st, 2023 and Executive Vice-President Recycling on November 18th, 2024.

Geert began his career at Umicore in 2000 and prior to his appointment as CTO and EVP Specialty Materials, he served as Senior Vice President Research & Technology and Supply at Umicore’s Automotive Catalysts (AC) business unit, having held different functions in controlling and product management in the same unit. Prior to joining AC in 2010 Geert occupied different positions in Research & Development and served as operations manager in the Precious Metals Refining business unit.

Geert has a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, and an Executive MBA from Belgium’s Vlerick Management School.

Veerle Slenders was appointed Executive Vice-President Specialty Materials on November 18th, 2024.

She joined Umicore in June 2023 as EVP Recycling. She has over 30 years of international experience in various operating and commercial roles and spent 28 years at Praxair/Linde, a leading global industrial gases and engineering company serving a variety of end-markets.  Most recently, she served as their President of the Region Europe West and prior to that, was leading the Global Advanced Materials Technologies business after having led the global Safety, Health, Environment and Quality function through the merger integration. Veerle’s career includes periods working and living in the US, Germany, France and Belgium.

She holds a Master's Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Hasselt, Belgium, as well as a Postgraduate in Business Administration from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium.

Jensen Verhelle was appointed Executive Vice-President Catalysis on May 16th, 2024.

He joined Umicore in September 2008 and has since held positions in finance, product management, operations and R&D within several of Umicore’s business units, including Electro-Optic Materials, Cobalt Specialty Materials as well as Precious Metals Chemistry. In 2023 Jensen was appointed as Senior Vice-President Automotive Catalysts and Strategic Procurement.