Avon has announced three key appointments to the Digital and IT Leadership Team, which will be instrumental in driving the Digital and IT agenda forward to deliver the Open Up strategy.

Louis Botha will join Avon on 1 August as Avon’s Chief Information and Security Officer (CISO). Louis is a seasoned information security leader and joins Avon from Page Group, where he was Global Director of Information Security & Data Protection. In this role, he was responsible for the cyber security roadmap and security operating model. During his time at Page Group, Louis built a new global information security organisation and implemented several pivotal business projects including: creating a new global information security organisation; establishing a Group Data Protection Office to manage compliance with data protection regulations globally; and leading a successful £1 million GDPR implementation programme. Louis also brings a wealth of experience from his work with high profile organisations including Sky, Centrica, Camelot and at SABMiller where he represented the company’s information security function during Anheuser-Busch InBev’s US$100 billion takeover.

In his role as CISO, Louis will be responsible for evolving Avon’s information security programme, including procedures and policies designed to protect enterprise communications, systems and assets from both internal and external threats.

Austin Wildmore will join Avon on 1 September as Vice President, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems Development. Austin joins Avon from Big Four consultancy EY, where his role focused on devising and delivering client engagement strategies, with an emphasis on commercial technology transformation and business innovation. At EY, Austin split his time between the UK and Spain and was responsible for several major company milestones including designing EY’s Next Generation technology solution; providing commercial transformation solutions using artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA); and designing new business models to harness asset monetisation and recurring revenue offerings. Austin brings with him diverse expertise and a strong track record of delivery, innovation and design and has previous FMCG experience from PepsiCo.

In his new role, he will be responsible for the design, implementation and maintenance of the Target System landscape to support the finance and supply chain functions, as well as order management and HR processes.

Sam Ziółkowski will join on 1 October as Vice President, IT Commercial Business. Sam has been working in the IT industry for the past 28 years across the world and since 2007 has managed the IT function at Cluster/Pan Regional level for several global multinational companies in the FMCG sector. He joins Avon from Asahi Group in Warsaw. Since 2014, he has been the CIO for Kompania Piwowarska – a Polish brewing group which was bought by Asahi in 2017. In addition to this, Sam was also the European business partner overseeing all corporate functions including HR, Finance, Procurement and Corporate Affairs. Amongst his achievements was serving as the European Transformation Lead during the high profile US$100 billion acquisition of SAB Miller by Anheuser-Busch InBev (InBev), where he oversaw all Information Systems contracts and service transitions to Asahi Holdings. Sam also led Kompania Piwowarska through its separation process from InBev systems and onto Asahi systems in a record six-month timeframe.

In his role at Avon, Sam will be responsible for providing IT leadership across the commercial business.