Aaron Erter

Aaron Erter

Chief Executive Officer

Aaron Erter was appointed as Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) in September 2022.

Mr Erter is a highly experienced executive, with deep experience in leading large enterprises in the consumer and industrial sectors.

Mr Erter most recently served as Chief Executive Officer of PLZ Corp, a leader of specialty liquid and aerosol manufacturing. Headquartered outside of Chicago, Illinois, USA, with over 2,500 employees throughout North America. Mr Erter was CEO from November 2020 to August 2022.

From 2017 to 2020, Mr Erter held multiple executive leadership roles at Sherwin Williams, the world leader in paints and coatings. While at Sherwin Williams, Mr Erter was Global President of the Consumer Brands Group and Global President of the Performance Coatings Group.

Before joining Sherwin Williams, Mr Erter held various leadership roles at Valspar, including SVP and General Manager of the North America Consumer Division.  Prior to Valspar, Mr Erter held various leadership roles at Stanley Black and Decker.

Mr Erter earned a Bachelor of Economics from The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania and MBA at The University of Notre Dame – Mendoza College of Business.

Rachel Wilson

Rachel Wilson

Chief Financial Officer

Ms. Wilson has more than 25 years of experience in finance, mergers & acquisitions, strategic development, investor relations, treasury and audit with global, top tier companies such as Iron Mountain, Jarden Corporation, and Avon Products.  Most recently, Rachel served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer at R1 RCM, a leader in Revenue Cycle Management focused on the Healthcare industry.

Rachel has her MBA from Columbia Business School and an MA in International Relations and Economics from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies as part of a BA/MA program from The Johns Hopkins University.

Farhaj Majeed

Farhaj Majeed

Chief Human Resources Officer

Farhaj Majeed joined James Hardie in February 2023 as Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO)

Mr. Majeed joins James Hardie with a tremendous career spanning over 20 years in a variety of global and regional HR experiences with top tier companies such as Kraft Foods, Mondelez International, Abbott Laboratories and, most recently with Whirlpool Corporation where he led the Europe and MEA region as VP & CHRO, EMEA. Farhaj has held several leadership roles and led HR teams in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Mr. Majeed holds a Masters of Business Administration from the Institute of Business Management with an emphasis on Human Resources and Marketing.

Tim Beastrom

Tim Beastrom

Chief Legal Counsel

Tim Beastrom joined James Hardie in January 2023 as Chief Legal Counsel.

Mr. Beastrom joins James Hardie as Legal Counsel from a successful career in corporate governance, securities law, ESG risk oversight, M&A, and commercial law. He has 30 years of legal experience, most recently with Ecolab Inc. where he was Chief Securities Counsel and Assistant Secretary and then Sector General Counsel for corporate functions.

Mr. Beastrom completed his Juris Doctor at the University of Minnesota Law School and received his undergraduate degree from Gustavus Adolphus College.

Sean Gadd

Sean Gadd

President, North America

Sean Gadd joined James Hardie in 2004 as a Regional Engineering Manager for the Asia Pacific business, and progressed to Plant Manager for both the Carole Park and Rosehill facilities in Australia. Mr Gadd then moved to the US in 2006 to take the role of Manufacturing Manager for Trim and various manufacturing facilities across the US.

In 2009, Mr Gadd ran the US trim business for James Hardie with responsibility for both Manufacturing and Sales, followed by a brief assignment leading Supply Chain. In 2012, Mr Gadd was promoted to the role of Vice President of Sales for Western USA and Canada. Over the next year, his role was expanded to include the Midwest and Northeast of the USA.

Mr Gadd was appointed Executive General Manager in September 2013 with full responsibility for the Northern Division and in October 2015, he was appointed Executive Vice President, Markets and Segments, North America with responsibility for Strategic Marketing and Development. In December 2018, Mr Gadd was appointed Executive Vice President, North America Commercial with responsibility for sales, products, segments and marketing. In January 2022, Mr Gadd was appointed President, North America, with responsibility for running the companies’ North America activities.

Mr Gadd has a Bachelor of Engineering in Manufacturing Management and an executive MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management, Australia.

Dr. Joe Liu

Dr. Joe Liu

Chief Technology Officer

Dr Joe Liu joined James Hardie as Senior Vice President and General Manager, Asia Pacific, in December 2021 and was appointed Chief Technology Officer in January 2022.

Before joining James Hardie, Dr Liu concluded an impressive 26-year career with 3M Company, where he held a variety of R&D, Commercial and International Management roles of increasing responsibility over the course of his career. Early assignments in technical roles across multiple 3M product lines led to progression to Vice President R&D of 3M International Operations, Vice President & Managing Director of 3M Southeast Asia Region, to Dr Liu's most recent role of Senior Vice President, R&D and Commercialization of 3M Global Consumer Business Group. Dr Liu utilizes his vast and deep experiences across R&D, Commercial and General Management to help drive the commercialization of innovative new products.

Dr Liu has a Bachelor of Science and a PhD in Thermal Energy and Power Engineering from Xi’an Jiaotong University in China as well as an additional PhD in Mechanics from the University of Minnesota.

James Johnson II

James Johnson II

Chief Information Officer

James Johnson II joined James Hardie as Chief Information Officer (“CIO”) in December 2021. Mr Johnson is responsible for all aspects of information technology and cyber security globally. Mr Johnson and his team will drive a focused Information Technology vision and strategy which integrates with, and helps enable, the JHX global strategic plan.

Mr Johnson brings over 25 years of relevant and progressive IT experience, including 15 years as CIO for businesses in a variety of industries, including chemicals and metals industries. Most recently, Mr Johnson held the role of CIO at Carpenter Technology since 2013. Prior to joining Carpenter Technology, Mr Johnson held previous IT roles with Honeywell International, Performance Fibers and Trinseo. Mr Johnson has a proven track record of developing effective, leading-edge technology solutions that create business value.

Mr Johnson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Virginia and a Master of Business Administration degree with an emphasis in Marketing and Strategic Management from the University of Maryland.

Ryan Kilcullen

Ryan Kilcullen

Executive Vice President, Global Operations

Ryan Kilcullen joined James Hardie in 2007 as a PcI/PdI Engineer. Since then, Mr Kilcullen has worked for the Company in various manufacturing and supply chain roles including Process Engineer, Production Manager, and Supply Chain Engineer. In 2012, Mr Kilcullen became Supply Chain Manager, ColorPlus® Business Unit, responsible for the end-to-end design and performance of our ColorPlus® product line supply chain. In 2013, Mr Kilcullen became responsible for North American Supply Chain operations, with responsibilities that included Procurement, Network Planning, Production Planning, Transportation, Distribution Management, Customer Service, and Inside Sales. In June 2015, Mr Kilcullen was appointed Vice President – Central Operations, responsible for the Company’s Supply Chain Operations and Centralized Manufacturing functions.

In August 2016, Mr Kilcullen was appointed Executive Vice President – North America Operations, responsible for the Company's Supply chain, Manufacturing Engineering and Environmental, Health & Safety Operations. In November 2020, Mr Kilcullen was appointed Senior Vice President – North America Supply Chain Operations with responsibility for the Company’s production planning, procurement and logistics operations. In January 2022, he was appointed Executive Vice President, Global Operations in this newly developed role. Mr Kilcullen's experience in the areas of supply chain operations, including engineering, construction and lean/HMOS will transition regional functions into world class, seamlessly integrated and globally focused functions.

Mr Kilcullen has a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Master of Engineering in Logistics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

John Arneil

John Arneil

President, Asia Pacific

John Arneil joined James Hardie as a graduate in 2002 and has gained extensive business and leadership experience having worked across James Hardie’s European, North American and Asia Pacific businesses in a variety of commercial and operational roles.

This has included time as Country Manager UK and Ireland, Country Manager Canada, Sales and Marketing Director for Australia and most recently Country Manager for Australia and New Zealand where Mr Arneil was responsible for all manufacturing and market activities in this region.

This experience has given Mr Arneil exposure to multiple markets in different phases of business maturity and complexity enabling him to fully understand value creation from a consumer and customer perspective and how this translates end-to-end through Innovation, manufacturing, commercialization and supply chain. This coupled with deep industry relationships has enabled Mr Arneil to deliver record results for the Australian and New Zealand businesses year-over-year while running these business units.

Mr Arneil was appointed to General Manger, Asia Pacific in January 2022 where he is responsible for running the company’s Asia Pacific activities which are headquartered in Sydney, Australia

Mr Arneil has a Bachelor of Business Management from The University of Queensland in Australia and a Masters of Business Administration from The University of Leicester in the UK.

Christian Claus

Christian Claus

President, Europe

Christian Claus joined James Hardie as President Europe in January 2023 and is responsible for running the companies’ European activities.

Mr. Claus most recently served as Vice President for West Europe, South Europe and Africa of Tarkett, a global leader of floor and wall coverings headquartered in Paris, France, with over 12,500 employees. Mr. Claus was operating in a variety of Vice President roles at Tarkett since January 2018.

Prior to joining Tarkett, Mr. Claus held multiple commercial leadership roles at Air Liquide, the world leader of industrial gases. Before joining Air Liquide, Mr. Claus held various commercial and international management roles of increasing responsibility over the course of his career at 3M.

Mr. Claus is a graduate of the Heinrich Heine University in Duesseldorf, holds a Masters degree in Business Administration and has completed multiple Executive Education courses at MIT Sloan, Harvard Business School and the London Business School.

Jill Kolling

Jill Kolling

Chief Sustainability Officer

Jill Kolling joined James Hardie as Vice President, ESG & Chief Sustainability Officer in March 2022. Ms Kolling and her team are responsible for development and execution of James Hardie’s global ESG strategy, ensuring integration with the company’s overall business strategy and ensuring the ESG strategy is an enabler of future growth.

Ms Kolling began her career as a new product engineer with Hewlett-Packard, then transitioned into management consulting where she provided advisory services in the areas of technology, Sarbanes-Oxley, and ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance) to companies in a variety of industries. Most recently, Ms Kolling held the role of Vice President, Global Sustainability at Cargill where she built the first-ever global sustainability function for the corporation. Ms Kolling has a proven track record of applying strategic insights and systems thinking to optimize for shareholder value, positive environmental outcome, and social good.

Ms Kolling holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree and a Master of Science in Computer Science degree, both from the University of Minnesota.

Stephen Balsavich

Stephen Balsavich

Global Head of Transformation

Stephen Balsavich was named Global Head of Transformation at James Hardie in November 2020.  In this capacity, he and his team will lead the coordination and execution of strategic initiatives.  Mr. Balsavich originally started his career at James Hardie in April of 2016 and served in both Finance and IT disciplines.  Stephen served as the PMO and IT lead for the Fermacell acquisition in Europe which included integration efforts post deal closing.

Mr. Balsavich has spent most of his 20+ year career in Merger and Acquisition and Business Transformation related work across several industries.  Prior to rejoining James Hardie in November 2020, he led the PMO and integration efforts for a $25 billion M&A deal spanning over 100 countries for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).  He also spent 8 years in Banking where he started his career and 5 years in Financial Services. 

Mr. Balsavich has a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Illinois and a Master in Business Administration from Dominican University.  

Joel Wasserman

Joel Wasserman

Vice President, Corporate Communications and Global Brand Management

Joel Wasserman joined James Hardie in January 2023 as Vice President, Corporate Communications and Global Brand Management.

Mr. Wasserman joins James Hardie as Vice President, Corporate Communications and Global Brand Management from Sherwin-Williams where he was responsible for strategic planning and brand management for all brands in the consumer brands group. He has more than 35 years of progressive communications and marketing experience that includes work at various agencies and consumer products companies.

Mr. Wasserman holds a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from Northern Illinois University.