dss+ expands board of directors with Betül Susamis Unaran

Global operations consulting firm dss+ has expanded its board of directors with Betül Susamis Unaran, who lifts the size of the global leadership team to nine.

Unaran, who is based in Switzerland, brings over two decades of experience to dss+, gained in pharma & life sciences (Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Novartis and DocMorris), retail (Zur Rose Group, Procter & Gamble) and strategy consulting (McKinsey & Company).

“Betül has made a tremendous impact on each of the organisations she has contributed to, and her perspective and experience will be invaluable in helping guide the strategic direction of dss+,” said Guy Semmens, Chairman of the Board of Directors of dss+ and founding partner of Gyrus Capital (the investor backing dss+).

Most recently, Unaran served as Chief Strategy and Digital Officer and an Executive Board Member of Zur Rose Group, with 1.6 billion CHF in sales the largest e-commerce healthcare player in Europe. The Group owns the brands and platforms in Germany (DocMorris, Aporot, Medpex, Vitalsana, Eurapon), Switzerland (Zur Rose), France (DoctiPharma), Spain and Italy (PromoFarma) and technology companies (eHealthTec, BlueCare).

Prior to that, Unaran was Head of Digital Medicines at Novartis, and served as Global Head of Digital at Ferring Pharmaceuticals, following a four-year career at McKinsey & Company in its London and Geneva offices.

Unaran now become’s dss+’s ninth board member, alongside Davide Vassallo (Chief Executive Officer), Vladimir Kral (Chief Financial Officer), Srinivasan Ramabhadran​ (Managing Director for Asia Pacific), George Serafeim (Professor at Harvard Business School), John Richard (CEO at Americhem), and Cedric Perlet and Robert Watson from Gyrus Capital.

Chief Executive Officer, Davide Vassallo: “Our core purpose at dss+ is to help our clients develop solutions that save lives and create a sustainable future. Betül’s expertise will ensure we continue to be forward-thinking and innovative as we provide counsel to clients on how digitalisation and the use of data can help solve the complex challenges they’re facing in the areas of safety, operations and sustainability.”

Originally raised and trained in Turkey (Unaran also gained an MBA at INSEAD prior to joining McKinsey), Unaran also is a Member of the Board of Directors of Ypsomed in Switzerland and Brain+ in Denmark, and Advisory Board Member of Lumanity in the United States.

Established in 2019 following a spin-off from chemical giant DuPont, dss+ has over 1,000 consultants and staff working from 20+ offices worldwide. The firm specialises in three lines of business: operations consulting, health & safety, and environment-focused solutions.