European missile house MBDA has appointed Giovanni Soccodato as its Executive Group Director for Sales and Business Development and as Managing Director of MBDA Italy, the company reported on 1 June 2023.
Reporting directly to MBDA CEO Eric Béranger, Soccodato has also become a member of the Executive Committee of MBDA.
Soccodato succeeds Lorenzo Mariani, who has become Co-General Manager of Leonardo with the responsibility for the newly established General Business & Operations Department. Mariani will also represent Leonardo on the MBDA Group Board and will become Chairman of the Board of Directors of MBDA Italy.
As Executive Group Director for Sales and Business Development Soccodato will lead an integrated multi-national team responsible for generating orders to sustain the long-term performance of MBDA, the understanding of customers’ operational needs, and the development of the most effective solutions to meet current and future operational requirements. As Managing Director of MBDA Italia he will be the legal representative of the company in Italy, leading relations with the Italian customer and industrial community, as well as being responsible for company operations in Italy to ensure business continuity, competitiveness and coherence of company policies from a national perspective.
“I am delighted to welcome Giovanni Soccodato into the Executive Committee of MBDA,” Eric Béranger, CEO of MBDA, was quoted as saying in a company press release. “I am sure that, thanks to his personal and professional skills, his long career in numerous top positions in Leonardo and his great expertise in the defence and strategic sectors, Giovanni will provide a decisive contribution to developing our global positioning as a leading integrated defence company in Europe and maintaining the success of MBDA in Italy and in the world. I also want to take this opportunity to thank Lorenzo Mariani for his fundamental support and contribution in having pushed MBDA to unprecedented levels of commercial positioning, which consolidates the company as a market leader in the complex weapon systems sector.”
Soccodato joins MBDA after having spent his career in positions of increasing importance within Leonardo (formerly Finmeccanica). Since June 2019 he held the role of Chief Strategic Equity Officer, following strategic joint venture activities, including MBDA. From 2005 to 2019 he was Executive Vice President of Strategy and Mergers and Acquisitions, with additional responsibilities in the areas of improvement and processes, innovation and corporate sales.
Prior to that Soccodato held various strategic positions within Alenia Marconi Systems (AMS: a joint venture between the former Finmeccanica and Marconi Electronic Systems (and then BAE Systems)). He finally became Vice Chairman and General Manager of the Italian branch of AMS from 2004 to 2005.
Having more recently held the position of Deputy Chairman to the Board of MBDA Group, representing Leonardo, Soccodato has an excellent knowledge of the company, which he has followed since contributing to its establishment in 2001.
Soccodato began his career in 1986 in the software engineering unit of Alenia Spazio (Selenia Spazio) after graduating with honours in Computer Science at the University of Pisa.
Peter Felstead