Khadija Ben Hammada

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Khadija Ben Hammada became a Member of the Executive Board of Merck and Chief People Officer in March 2025. She is also responsible for Sustainability, Social Responsibility & Inclusion, Enterprise Operational Governance & Excellence, Corporate Security, Inhouse Consulting, and Site Management of our corporate headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany.

Since joining the company in 2010, she has held global roles in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the United States, driving transformations, major integrations and strategic initiatives across all sectors and various functions within Human Resources and beyond. Before being appointed Chief People Officer, she served as Chief Human Resources Officer at Merck. With her team, Khadija drove a portfolio of step-changes related to leadership excellence, strategic business partnering and family-friendly benefit offerings, such as enterprise-wide support for fertility and caregiving. She also played a pivotal role in advancing a high-impact culture throughout the organization.

Khadija was born in 1980 in France. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Strasbourg College and a master’s degree in business administration and general management from IAE France, University School of Management. She also participated in executive leadership programs at Stanford University and INSEAD.

Responsibility for Enabling functions 

• Site Management 
• Group Human Resources 
• Inhouse Consulting 
• Sustainability, Social Responsibility & Inclusion
• Enterprise Operational Governance & Excellence
• Corporate Security