Mark Rayfield Appointed CEO of Saint-Gobain North America

Saint-Gobain has appointed Mark Rayfield as CEO of Saint-Gobain North America. In this role, Rayfield will oversee Saint-Gobain’s efforts to increase agility and drive the growth of the company’s building solutions businesses in the U.S. and Canada. As such, he will continue to serve as CEO of CertainTeed, Saint-Gobain’s manufacturer of building materials for commercial and residential construction.

The manufacturing and construction industries face significant challenges related to waste and a tight labor market, and Rayfield plans to address these issues in his new role by increasing sustainability and building tomorrow’s manufacturing and construction workforce, according to the company. With nearly 20 years of experience within the Saint-Gobain family of brands, Rayfield will build upon past success in the U.S. and U.K. to increase collaboration across the North American organization and focus more on using consumer insights to inform his business strategy, according to the company. Specifically, his vision for leading the growth of Saint-Gobain in North America revolves around breaking down silos to build innovative and integrated solutions that deliver more value for customers.

“Saint-Gobain’s more than 350-year legacy is rooted in our ability as a company to evolve to meet customers’ changing needs, providing them with the innovative solutions they need today and anticipating their needs tomorrow,” says Benoit Bazin, chief operating officer of Saint-Gobain. “As we shift our business efforts to better respond to the changing marketplace, we’re confident that Mark will tap into his long history with the company and marked success in business operations to lead the growth of Saint-Gobain North America.”

Rayfield succeeds Tom Kinisky, who now takes on the role of chairman of Saint-Gobain in North America and chief innovation officer globally for the company. Kinisky will drive the strategy and application of Saint-Gobain’s global innovation efforts across a wide range of disciplines, including research and development and the company’s external ventures, according to Saint-Gobain.

The leadership shifts in North America come as a result of Saint-Gobain’s “Transform & Grow” initiative, aimed at encouraging stronger customer intimacy, more collaboration across the organization’s global footprint to develop integrated solutions, reveal new areas of innovation, leverage its digital transformation and focus on the ever-changing demands of the manufacturing and construction industries.

“As a leader, I know two things: employees are the key to every success we have as a company at every level, and listening to our customers is the only way to ensure those employees are working on the right things. I’m excited to be leading a team doing just that – Saint-Gobain North America is focused on combining consumer insights with building science to create products and solutions that make homes and buildings more livable and dynamic,” says Rayfield. “This strategy allows us to be more aligned with our customers, more agile and more synergistic.”