Paris, France – June 2026 — Sodexo has announced the appointment of Soorya Themudu as Senior Vice President, Global Talent & Development, reinforcing the organization’s commitment to leadership excellence, talent development, succession planning, and culture transformation as it advances its Ambition 2030 strategy.
In her new global leadership role, Themudu will lead Sodexo’s worldwide talent, learning and development, succession planning, leadership capability, and culture agenda. She will be responsible for strengthening leadership pipelines, accelerating capability building, fostering a high-performance culture, and enabling future-ready talent across the Group’s global operations.
A seasoned human resources leader with more than 25 years of international experience, Themudu has built a distinguished career driving large-scale transformation, organizational effectiveness, leadership development, and talent strategies across diverse industries and geographies.
Prior to this appointment, she served as Senior Vice President Human Resources, APMEA, Brazil & Latin America at Sodexo, where she led the people strategy across more than 15 countries and a workforce exceeding 90,000 employees. During her tenure, she played a pivotal role in strengthening organizational capability, accelerating talent development, enhancing employee engagement, and supporting business transformation initiatives across highly diverse markets.
Before joining Sodexo, Themudu served as Chief Human Resources Officer at Bumi Armada, where she led the global HR agenda and contributed to significant organizational transformation, workforce optimization, leadership development, and HR digitization initiatives while also serving as a board member for several joint ventures.
Earlier, she held senior HR leadership positions at Petrofac, where she served as Regional HR Director for Integrated Energy Services, driving HR business partnering, organizational transformation, and talent management initiatives across Southeast Asia operations.
She also spent nearly a decade with GE, holding multiple leadership roles including Organization & Talent Development Director for Asia Pacific, Organization & Talent Development/HR Director for ASEAN, Commercial HR Manager for GE Oil & Gas Asia Pacific, and HR Manager for Malaysia. During this period, she led succession planning, leadership development, organizational design, talent mobility, regionalization initiatives, and workforce transformation programs across the region.
Prior to GE, Themudu served as HR Director for Malaysia and Singapore at Eli Lilly and Company, where she led talent management, compensation and benefits, employee relations, staffing, and organizational development initiatives while supporting the company’s regional growth agenda.
Throughout her career, she has been recognized for building high-performing organizations, strengthening leadership capability, advancing diversity and inclusion, developing future leaders, and aligning people strategies with business growth objectives.
Her appointment comes at a time when Sodexo continues to invest in talent, leadership, and culture as key enablers of sustainable growth and long-term business success.
About Sodexo
Founded in 1966 in Marseille, France, Sodexo is a global leader in food services and facilities management, delivering services that improve quality of life across workplaces, healthcare facilities, educational institutions, sports venues, and other environments.
Operating in dozens of countries worldwide, Sodexo serves millions of consumers daily through a broad portfolio of integrated services. The company combines operational excellence, innovation, sustainability, and social responsibility to create better everyday experiences for employees, customers, and communities.
Driven by its purpose of creating a better everyday for everyone to build a better life for all, Sodexo continues to invest in people, leadership, and culture as fundamental pillars of its long-term growth strategy.
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