Bombardier announced that, effective immediately, Nico Buchholz will assume a new role as sr. VP, strategic initiatives, and Jim Vounassis will assume the chief procurement officer responsibilities in addition to continuing to lead the company's operations transformation as Bombardier's chief transformation and procurement officer.

"Nico, who joined Bombardier in September 2015 and served as the company's chief procurement officer, has been instrumental in establishing a more centralized, focused, and efficient procurement organization," said Bombardier’s President/CEO Alain Bellemare. "As a result of his outstanding efforts, the company obtained significant cost savings, strengthened its relationship with suppliers, and is well positioned to continue to achieve the cost reductions necessary to support our turnaround plan."

"In his new position, Nico will work closely with me and Bombardier's leadership team to pursue key growth initiatives across both our rail and aerospace businesses," Bellemare continued. "Nico is ideally suited for this position given his strong leadership experience and deep industry knowledge and relationships in the aerospace and industrial sectors."

Going forward, Bombardier's global procurement activities will be led by Jim Vounassis. He joined Bombardier in June 2015, serving as the company's chief transformation officer with responsibility for transforming the company's operations, to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and support Bombardier's growth objectives.

"Jim's tremendous performance over the past 18 months, leading Bombardier`s operations transformation, has helped us set a strong foundation for growth and position the company to achieve its 2020 goals and deliver greater value to customers and shareholders," said Bellemare. "Expanding Jim's responsibilities to include global procurement is a natural evolution of our operations transformation as we focus on driving greater efficiencies across our extended value chain."

Both Buchholz and Vounassis will continue to report to Bellemare as members of Bombardier's senior leadership team.