Our Company

Our Leadership

As a global marketer of consumer and commercial products that touch millions of people every day where they live, learn, work and play, our consumers are at the heart of all we do. Our leadership team maintains this focus and drives our commitment to delivering results while bringing our purpose and values to the forefront of our daily activities. The leadership team’s years of experience in global, high-impact product development and delivery are the foundation for our success -- today and in future generations.

Executive Officers

Michael B. Polk
President and Chief Executive Officer

Michael Polk is building Newell Rubbermaid into a larger, faster growing, more global and more profitable company. This ambition will be achieved through the company’s Growth Game Plan, which makes sharper portfolio choices and strengthens capabilities within a new organization model.

A global marketer, innovator and leader with a proven record of growing brands, driving change and delivering superior financial performance, Mike has been President and Chief Executive Officer since July 2011 and a member of the company’s Board of Directors since 2009.

Previously, Mike was President of Global Foods, Home and Personal Care at Unilever, where he was responsible for the development, innovation and marketing of Unilever's entire $64 billion portfolio of categories and brands. During eight years at Unilever, he is credited with transforming the company’s business in the Americas and, in his latest role, sharpening Unilever’s portfolio strategy and creating a more competitive, faster-growing, innovation-driven organization. He was a member of the Unilever Executive Board from 2007-2011.

Earlier, Mike spent 16 years at Kraft Foods. His last two positions at Kraft were President of the Asia Pacific Region for Kraft Foods International and President of Nabisco Biscuit & Snacks for Kraft Foods North America. In both positions, he served on Kraft’s Management Committee. Prior to Kraft, Mike spent three years at Procter & Gamble working in manufacturing and research & development in the Paper Products Division.

Mike serves on the Board of Directors of Newell Rubbermaid and is a former member of the Board of Directors of Yankee Candle. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

He has a B.S. in operations research and industrial engineering from Cornell University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

William A. Burke III
Chief Operating Officer

Bill Burke is responsible for the Delivery pillar at Newell Rubbermaid, which comprises the company’s operating business segments as well as the customer development and supply chain teams. His focus is building true strategic partnerships with customers and suppliers while also developing the company’s go-to-market capabilities in the emerging markets.

Bill has a proven track record of outstanding leadership and consistent growth in his 10 years at Newell Rubbermaid. Most recently, he was Group President – Newell Professional, a portfolio encompassing a diverse collection of well-known brands including Lenox, Irwin, Rubbermaid Commercial Products, Dymo, Rubbermaid Healthcare and Shur-Line.

He joined Newell Rubbermaid in 2003 as the President of Lenox. Under his leadership, the brand averaged double-digit sales growth and became a significant platform for international expansion through strong branding, innovation, end-user conversion and channel penetration.

Prior to Newell Rubbermaid, Bill spent 20 years at Black and Decker in various roles, including Vice President/General Manager of the Product Service Division and Global Vice President of Marketing.

He received his bachelor's degree and Master of Business Administration from Loyola University in Baltimore.

Mark Tarchetti
Chief Development Officer

Mark Tarchetti joined Newell Rubbermaid in January 2013 to lead the company's newly created Development organization, which comprises the Marketing and Consumer Engagement, Design and R&D, Corporate Strategy and Business Development functions. He is a decisive leader with an outstanding ability to bring clarity and new ideas to complex business challenges--and drive positive change and transformation.

Mark has an extensive track record of strategy development at all levels of business. Previously, he spent 14 years at Unilever in a variety of senior strategy, business and finance positions. As global Head of Corporate Strategy reporting directly to the company’s first external CEO, he was instrumental in helping the executive team develop the transformational “Compass” strategy that has fueled a breakthrough in Unilever’s performance in recent years. This work included sharpening portfolio and M&A choices and prioritizing top growth businesses--which ultimately led to a major reorganization of the corporation. Earlier, he held the positions of global Head of Financial Planning & Analysis and Finance Director for Unilever’s U.K. Home & Personal Care business, where he was involved in a number of strategy interventions on key businesses.

Most recently, Mark founded an international consulting firm, Tarchetti & Co. Ltd., where he advised clients, including Newell Rubbermaid, on business strategy, portfolio optimization, and change management.

Mark studied at Durham University in the United Kingdom, where he received a B.A. (Joint Honors) in Economics and Politics. He qualified as a management accountant under the international Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Douglas L. Martin
Chief Financial Officer

Doug Martin is a decisive, results-oriented leader with a strong record of financial operations management across multiple disciplines and geographies.

A 25-year veteran of Newell Rubbermaid, Doug previously served as Deputy Chief Financial Officer, where he is credited with designing a roadmap for streamlining the cost structure of the company and the global finance function. Prior to that, he held a number of key financial leadership positions, including Vice President of Finance – Newell Consumer, with financial responsibility for the company’s largest operating group; Vice President of Finance - Office Products, where he helped drive a significant turnaround in the group’s operating performance; and Vice President and Treasurer – Newell Rubbermaid, where he managed the company’s global capital structure.

Doug is a Certified Public Accountant and began his career with KPMG LLP. He is a graduate of Rockford College in Illinois with a degree in Accounting.

James M. Sweet
Chief Human Resource Officer

Jim Sweet joined Newell Rubbermaid in 2004. He has been a business partner to the last three Chief Executive Officers at Newell Rubbermaid, has intimate knowledge of the company’s people and organization, and has provided strong change management leadership and business partnering to all of the company’s key leaders.

Previously, Jim was President and Co-Founder of Capital H Inc., a human resource services company with operations in three states. Prior to that, he held top-level human resource posts with the Kohler Co., Keystone International and the Brady Corporation. He is a veteran of the U.S. Navy Nuclear Submarine Service and taught at the Wisconsin School of Electronics.

Jim holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing and management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

John K. Stipancich
Chief Legal Officer, Corporate Secretary and EMEA Executive Leader

John Stipancich has extensive experience managing complex legal issues across a range of consumer and professional categories. He has led Newell Rubbermaid’s legal function during a period of significant transformation for the company and recently added full operating responsibility for the EMEA region.

John joined the company in 2004 as lead attorney for both the Tools, Hardware and Commercial Products Group and the Rubbermaid and Décor Global Business Units. He was promoted to Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary in January 2010, and in September 2012 assumed additional responsibility for the company’s operations in Europe, Middle East and Africa. John previously held positions as EVP and General Counsel of Evenflo Co., Inc., a former Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. portfolio company, and as Senior Counsel for Borden, Inc., another former Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. portfolio company. He started his legal career as an associate with the Cleveland, Ohio office of the international law firm of Squire Sanders.

John earned his law degree from The Ohio State University and holds an undergraduate degree in accounting from The University of Toledo. He is an active member of the bars of the States of Ohio, North Carolina and Georgia. He currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Easter Seals North Georgia.

Executive Leaders

Meredith Stevens
Chief Supply Chain Officer

Meredith “Meri” Stevens joined the company in January 2013 in the newly created position of Chief Supply Chain Officer to lead all aspects of the company’s global supply chain. Her key focus is driving a consistent approach to the company’s global operations, unlocking the trapped capacity for growth through improved productivity and working capital management, and building the network to support emerging market expansion.

Most recently, Stevens was head of the Global Fire & Security Install and Service Supply Chain at Tyco. In an eight-year career at what was originally a $44 billion conglomerate, she built global procurement teams, drove manufacturing excellence and led the transformation of the company’s logistics and distribution network. Before Tyco, Stevens led Strategic Sourcing for media conglomerate Bertelsmann Inc., where she designed and implemented a new strategic sourcing operation. She began her career at General Electric in a number of operations management and supply chain roles, developing significant expertise in six sigma and lean manufacturing.

Stevens has an M.S. in Industrial Management and a B.S. in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Joseph W. Cavaliere
Chief Customer Officer

Joe Cavaliere joined Newell Rubbermaid in December 2012 to globalize the company’s customer development organization and expand customer partnerships and collaboration. He has an outstanding industry reputation and track record of delivering growth, developing strategic customer partnerships that create value across the entire enterprise, and building world-class customer development capabilities.

Joe most recently was Senior Vice President of Customer Development for North America at Unilever, where he was responsible for $11 billion in revenue across 17 categories. In his nine-year career at Unilever, he implemented a new strategic platform to build brands, optimize spending, enhance capabilities, develop talent and align the company to dramatically improve customer collaboration. This transformation catapulted Unilever to a top 5 ranking in the U.S. consumer goods industry, as measured by the Kantar/Cannondale survey.

Previously, he had a distinguished 20-year career as a top customer development leader at Kraft Foods. He held a number of positions of increasing responsibility, culminating in the role of National Vice President of Sales--where he was responsible for the profitable growth of $11 billion in sales for 12 divisions and 72 categories across two delivery systems and a team of 1500.

Joe serves on the board of directors for Students in Free Enterprise, the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the National Association of Chain Drug Foundation. He has a B.A. in Economics and Business Administration from Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania.

Richard Davies
Chief Marketing & Insights Officer

Richard Davies joined Newell Rubbermaid in January 2013 to build bigger brands and innovation, and make a larger marketing impact, while extending the company’s footprint to the faster growing emerging markets in Latin America and Asia.

Originally from New Zealand, where he joined Unilever in Sales, Richard most recently headed a global function of more than 700 people in more than 50 countries at Unilever where he was responsible for transforming the Insight capabilities of the business. He has a proven track record of creating brands, building mixes and bringing innovation to the consumer. Richard is a noted expert on the consumer market in China and has lived and worked across Asia during his 30-year career, including such roles as Chairman of Taiwan and Senior Vice President of Skincare for Unilever Asia, Vice President of Marketing and Development for Unilever Japan where he was responsible for taking the hair and skin care categories to market leadership. Prior to that he held senior Marketing roles for Unilever in Korea and in Taiwan.

He holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration degree from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand.

Charles L. Jones
Chief Design and Research & Development Officer

Chuck Jones joined Newell Rubbermaid in September 2012 as Chief Design and Research & Development Officer. In this newly created position, Chuck is accountable for leading the company’s new product design and development capability and for delivering high-impact, consumer innovations worldwide.

Chuck has a significant track record in providing strategic direction, mentoring and leadership to global teams that deliver consumer-led design and disruptive innovations. Most recently, as Chief Design Officer at Masco Corp, he led the global design organization, supporting the company’s 29 operating businesses, and launched new products with significant improvements in business impact.

Previously, as Vice President of Global Design for Whirlpool Corporation he created a multi-disciplined global design function that developed a succession of award-winning designs and market successes, based on extensive research, experimentation and thought leadership. Before that, as Group Manager of Design and Business Strategy for Xerox Corp., Chuck established the first interaction design function and was an early proponent of integrating anthropology and human sciences into designing more functional and user-friendly document processors.

He is the recipient of numerous international design awards and is one of a select number of global design leaders to receive the prestigious Smithsonian National Design Award. He was named a Master of Design by Fast Company magazine and has been elected to the Academy of Fellows of the World Technology Network and the Academy of Fellows of the International Design Society.

Chuck graduated with honors from Purdue University with degrees in Industrial Design and Human Factors Engineering.