Puma appoints Thomas John as vice president, people & organization

The sports company Puma has appointed Thomas John as its new vice president, people & organization. In this role, the 59-year-old will be responsible for human resources strategy and organizational development, starting on October 16, 2025, and reporting directly to CEO Arthur Hoeld.

John brings nearly three decades of experience in human resources, having held leadership positions across various industries, including sports, aviation, automotive, and energy. Most recently, he served as senior vice president, global human resources, at Landis+Gyr, a global provider of energy management and smart metering solutions, where he led the company’s transformation and HR strategy across more than 30 countries.

Before joining Landis+Gyr, John held HR leadership roles at KLM, Adidas and Mann+Hummel. Throughout his career, he has focused on aligning human resources strategies with business needs, emphasizing leadership, organizational development, talent management, and change and transformation, while fostering an inclusive and high-performance work environment.

“Thomas has a wealth of experience in HR strategy, organizational development and leadership, and is well acquainted with the challenges and opportunities of our industry,” said Puma CEO Arthur Hoeld. “I am confident that his deep expertise in both organizational change and global HR management will help us raise Puma’s operational performance to the next level.”

John succeeds Dietmar Knoess, who has chosen to pursue new opportunities outside the company.