Dr. Astrid Fontaine
Chief Human Resources Officer
Schaeffler AG
Curriculum vitae
Dr. Astrid Fontaine (b. 1969) began her professional career in 1994 as an industrial engineer (mechanical engineering and business administration) in the International Management Association Program at Mercedes-Benz. She subsequently held various management roles at the company, including as assistant to management board member Professor Juergen Hubbert in the passenger car business segment. In 2000 she moved to Mercedes-Benz USA, where she established the area of digitalization. With her appointment to the position of Chief Information Officer in 2002, she transformed the IT division to perform more work in-house and have a stronger internal customer focus.
From 2007 to 2012, Astrid Fontaine completed a Ph.D. in information systems at Emory University in the USA. She subsequently held a visiting professorship at the China European International Business School in Shanghai. On her return to the USA in 2013, she joined Porsche North America as Senior Vice President Human Resources and Business Innovation. Here, she established the shared service and business partner model, and the business innovation process based on human-centered design.
In 2018, Dr. Astrid Fontaine was appointed Member of the Board of Management People, Digitalization and IT at Bentley Motors in England. Following the successful turnaround of Bentley, the Volkswagen Group appointed her to the Board of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles as Chief Human Resources Officer. In this role, she shaped the strategy and implementation of workforce transformation toward electric mobility.
In January 2024, Dr. Astrid Fontaine joined the Board of Managing Directors of Schaeffler AG as Chief Human Resources Officer. She also holds the position of Labor Relations Director (Arbeitsdirektorin) of the Schaeffler Group.
Memberships and commitments
- Member of the Expert Group on Transformation of the Automotive Industry (ETA) under the auspices of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK)
- Member of the Board of Visitors of Emory University, Atlanta, USA
- Member of the Executive Board of the Bavarian Employers’