Ilham Kadri

Kadri started her career as a Development and Technical Service Manager at Royal Dutch Shell in Belgium, where she was part of a team that invented a synthetic bottle stopper made from a foamed thermoplastic elastomer to prevent the spread of fungi and bacteria from cork stoppers to stored liquids.[5] She then joined LyondellBasell in France, where she worked in Sales and Global Key Account Management.[6]

In 2002, Kadri took on a Product Management and Marketing role at UCB-Cytec in Belgium, until UCB sold its chemicals business.[7]

In 2005, she moved to the Huntsman Corporation in Switzerland to become Marketing Director of the global epoxy business divested to private equity.[7]

In 2007, Kadri joined Rohm and Haas as Marketing Director of its paint, coatings and construction businesses until Dow Chemical Company acquired the company in 2009.[8]

In 2010, she became Marketing Director for Dow Coating Materiales. She was then appointed as General Manager Middle East and Africa (MEA) for Dow's Advanced Materials division and Commercial Director EMEA for Dow Water and Process Solutions.[9]

While at Dow, Kadri built water purification plants in the United Arab Emirates,[10] oversaw expansions in Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria,[11] and developed water projects in Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Israel, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. She also launched the construction of Saudi Arabia’s first reverse osmosis (RO) membrane manufacturing plant.[12]

From 2013, Kadri was a Senior Vice President and Officer for Sealed Air Corporation, taking on the role of President for the company's hygiene and cleaning business, Diversey Care. On arriving at Diversey Care, Kadri was tasked with the turnaround of falling sales and profits, which saw her lead reforms of the service division.[13]

She was also a key figure in Diversey Care focusing on a strategy of technological innovation. This includes the launch of the first global range of commercial cleaning robots across the US and Europe, and a digital food safety management platform that helps organizations to achieve regulatory compliance in the food industry. Originally based in the Netherlands, Kadri relocated to Sealed Air's new corporate headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, when it opened in 2015.[14][1]

In early 2016, Kadri became Sealed Air's Digital Leader, responsible for Internet of Things (IoT) integration across the entire company – focusing on the IS digital architecture, external ecosystems acquisitions, digital monetisation and robotics.

In 2017, Kadri was named President & CEO of Diversey[15][16] as part of its acquisition by Bain Capital.

Ilham Kadri became CEO of Solvay. Her appointment was announced in October 2018.[17]