The hunt is on at Ericsson for a new head for its North America region following the departure of Rima Qureshi Thursday.
According to Ericsson, Qureshi left the company this week in favor of another unspecified opportunity in the industry. Ericsson SVP, Chief Strategy Officer, and Head of Technology & Emerging Business Niklas Heuveldop has been named Acting Head of the North America region until a replacement for Qureshi is found.
Qureshi joined Ericsson in 1993, and attained leadership roles in R&D, sales, and services before being named Senior Vice President and part of Ericsson’s Executive Leadership Team in 2010. A few years later in 2014, Qureshi was appointed Chief Strategy Officer. She became Head of Region for Ericsson North America in July 2016, and assumed her most recent position as Senior Vice President and Head of Ericsson’s North America Market Area at the start of last month.
While Qureshi was known for working closely with some of Ericsson’s largest customers, CEO Borje Ekholm sought to reassure clients that the region would not be neglected in her absence.
“Rima has been an appreciated member of our team for many years. We wish her the best in her new position,” Ekholm said in a statement. “We will continue our work to bring the latest technology and competitive solutions to our customers in North America. It is an exciting region with some of the world’s most advanced operators and demanding requirements. We remain firmly committed to being their partner on the road to 5G.”
Qureshi’s exit comes as Ericsson fights to execute an about-face and recover from steadily sliding sales. In its first quarter earnings report last month, the company posted a net loss of $1.2 billion as sales dropped 11 percent year over year to $5.26 billion. Ekholm at the time called the results “unsatisfactory” and said Ericsson would continue its effort to cut costs and pivot to new strategic focus areas like IT and Cloud.
Filed Under: Infrastructure