Maria Varsellona
Maria Varsellona was appointed Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary of Unilever in April 2022.
Chief Legal Officer and Group Secretary
As a member of Unilever’s Leadership Executive Team Maria is responsible for the company’s Legal, Intellectual Property and Business Integrity functions.
Maria holds a Juris Doctor (JD) from the University of Palermo, Italy. She was admitted to practice as a lawyer in Italy in 1996 and as a solicitor in England and Wales in 2000.
Maria was appointed as Director at Sandoz in August 2023. From to 2001 to 2009, Maria covered various senior global roles in the General Electric Oil & Gas legal department.
Maria served as the General Counsel at Sidel from 2009 to 2011 and TetraPak from 2011 to 2013. Both Sidel and TetraPak belong to the Tetra Laval Group.
Maria joined Nokia in July 2013, as Nokia Siemens Networks General Counsel. In May 2014, she was appointed as the Chief Legal Officer of Nokia. In addition, Maria had full P&L responsibility for Nokia’s Intellectual Property Rights business, which generated a substantive part of Nokia’s profit.
Prior to joining Unilever – and from 2019 – Maria served as the Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary at ABB. As a member of the ABB Executive Committee, Maria worked closely with the Board on strategic decision making.
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History
- 2023: Member of the Board of Directors of Sandoz
- 2022: Appointed Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary of Unilever
- 2020 — 2022: Member of the Board of Directors, ABB India
- 2016 — 2020: Member of the Board of Directors and of the Business Operations & Compliance Committee, Nordea Bank
- 2019: Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary, ABB
- 2016 — 2019: Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, Nokia Shanghai Bell
- 2016 — 2017: Member of the Board of Directors, Alcatel Lucent
- 2014: Chief Legal Officer, Nokia
- 2013: General Counsel, Nokia Siemens Networks
- 2011 — 2013: General Counsel, TetraPak
- 2009 — 2011: General Counsel, Sidel