Philips Names Duo of New Leadership Appointments

Philips has appointed Jie Xue as Chief Business Leader Precision Diagnosis, and Özlem Fidanci as Chief of International Region, both effective January 1, 2025.

Xue joins the company from GE HealthCare, where she worked for over 25 years. She was most recently president and CEO of the company’s Global Magnetic Resonance (MR) Imaging business. Xue has worked in leadership roles including in Global X-ray, MR, Services and Business Development.

She will lead the Precision Diagnosis that was temporarily lead by Bert van Meurs, who will continue to lead Philips’ Image Guided Therapy business. Xue and Van Meurs will jointly oversee the Diagnosis & Treatment segment.

Fidanci had previously worked at Philips for 22 years. In that time, she took on roles including Health Systems Leader and Market Leader Middle East & Türkiye, before leaving in September 2021. She joins from Versuni and succeeds Edwin Paalvast, chief of international region, who decided to retire as planned after five years at Philips. This concludes a career lasting over 35 years.

“In Jie we have a strong proven global leader, with deep medtech expertise, and a focus on creating value through developing people and consistently delivering results,” said Philips CEO Roy Jakobs. “Özlem brings an extensive track record in delivering high growth in mature and emerging markets, working closely with customers and governments. She has strong experience in consumer and medtech domains and is known for building high-performing teams. Jie and Özlem strengthen our experienced and diverse leadership team and will support us in realizing our vision of better care for more people.”

“I want to thank Edwin for his leadership and many achievements during his five years at Philips and wish him all the very best for his retirement,” Jakobs continued. “I also want to express my gratitude to Bert for leading Precision Diagnosis alongside his role as Chief Business Leader Image Guided Therapy and look forward to his continued leadership and support as Executive Committee member of Philips.”