Juliana Coelho takes over as new global head of production at Stellantis

In early 2022, Brazilian engineer Juliana Coelho was announced as the new Global Head of Production Way at Stellantis, the world's sixth-largest automaker, which owns major brands such as Jeep, Fiat, Chrysler, Citroën and Peugeot, amongst other. Ms. Coelho is the first woman to take on the role and will assist the company in the unification and standardization of its management system, implementing the group's best practices worldwide in order to ensure its 92 factories operate in sync across four continents. 

Ms. Coelho joined Fiat Chrysler (FCA) in 2013 as a Process Specialist, responsible for the Spray Booth system in the Jeep/Fiat Goiana (PE) factory. In 2020, she took over the role of Plant Manager of the same factory – also becoming the first woman to hold the position in the company – and, prior to being announced as the new Global Head of Production Way, the 32-year-old captained the company’s department of new developments in manufacturing for Latin America. 

With an impressive academic background, Ms. Coelho holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and a Master’s in Petroleum Engineering, both from Universidade Católica de Pernambuco, in addition to an MBA from Fundação Getulio Vargas. According to Automotive Business, women in leadership positions in the automotive industry represent only 0,6% of industry professionals. Ms. Coelho’s appointment is a remarkable achievement, not only in her career, but also towards gender equality in the sector. 

"Stellantis was only born a year ago, during a challenging period, but we never doubted our immense potential. We explore synergies and new ways to innovate, showing the strength of diversity that drives us, and we are evolving towards becoming a leading company in the development of sustainable mobility. In this context, my new challenge is to dive into synergies and extract the best from each production methodology, building a unique format for the more than 90 factories that Stellantis has globally, aligning our quality and sustainability objectives in manufacturing and respecting the particularities of each region. It is a challenge that requires the sum of thousands of talents and a vision of how the world will move over the coming years.”, stated Juliana Coelho exclusively to Leaders League Brasil.