Kiloutou appoints Joanne Van Doesburg as Group Head of Human Resources
GroupCorporate governance
The Kiloutou Group announces the appointment of Joanne Van Doesburg as Group Human Resources Director. With over twenty-five years’ experience in human resources within major international groups, she joins the Kiloutou Group with a mission that matches the group’s ambitions for 2030: to transform Kiloutou, which operates in nine countries and employs 7,000 people, from an international company into a truly European group.
A role designed to fulfil the Group’s ambitions
Over the past fifteen years, Kiloutou has increased its turnover fivefold, reaching nearly €1.3 billion in 2025. This growth trajectory has been built on a combination of organic growth and more than sixty acquisitions, which have gradually increased the share of international revenue to 43% of the group’s turnover.
Whereas Kiloutou was previously a French company with an international presence, the ambition is now to build a group — with a common language, a shared culture and a harmonised talent policy.
A career forged within major international groups
A lawyer by training and a graduate of the Sorbonne, Joanne Van Doesburg has spent the bulk of her career in human resources within demanding environments characterised by diverse challenges and cultures.
At Danone, where she spent seventeen years, and subsequently at Andros and Sanofi Consumer Healthcare, she developed the ability to work at all levels of the organisation – from senior management to frontline teams – to develop transformative HR policies in times of change, and to position the HR function at the heart of decision-making, rather than on the periphery of the organisation.
She then worked as a freelancer, specialising in coaching and leadership training. Drawing on all this experience, she has now joined Kiloutou — with, in her own words, the joy of reconnecting with “the pulse of the business”.
“One thing really struck me before I joined Kiloutou: here, we work hard without taking ourselves too seriously. What has struck me ever since is seeing this confirmed at every level of the organisation, without exception. In the branch, the working conditions are demanding — we get up early, the days are physically demanding, the pace is relentless… And yet, I have found a level of commitment, pride and solidarity there that is rarely found in other companies. This isn’t a recruitment pitch. It’s a reality you sense from the very first days, and one that says a lot about what Kiloutou has managed to preserve as it has grown.“
Joanne Van Doesburg , People Officer
Promoting the Kiloutou culture across the Group
Joanne Van Doesburg’s mission is centred on a core belief: culture is one of the primary drivers of collective performance and international growth. It must be embodied in the behaviour of every individual, in day-to-day management practices and in concrete decisions (a corporate culture can only survive growth if it is translated into observable behaviour, day-to-day management practices and concrete decisions) . Joanne sees middle management as a powerful HR lever and will draw on Kiloutou’s DNA, which has successfully maintained a genuine capacity for hands-on management and team support. Extending and strengthening this dynamic across all the regions where the group operates is one of the challenges she intends to address with the utmost attention.
Beyond corporate culture, Joanne Van Doesburg will lead the development of a common HR framework across the group: unifying initiatives that bring together different nationalities, shared standards, and bridges between France and the international subsidiaries. The aim is not standardisation, but cohesion — enabling every team member, wherever they are, to feel that they are fully part of one and the same Kiloutou Group.
‘Joanne brings to Kiloutou a rare blend of experience, gained in very different fields but always driven by the same goal: to make HR a catalyst for collective performance. Her appointment as Group HR Director is a clear signal of the importance we intend to continue placing on people as we move towards 2030. ’
