Group Management Team

Domenico Villani was appointed Group Chief Executive Officer of CESI in October 2022. He is also in charge of the Group Sustainability affairs Function, President of the CESI USA Inc. Board of Directors, CEO of IPH GmbH Berlin and FGH E&T Mannheim Germany and Vice President of CIGRE Italy and Board Member of CEI Italy (IEC Italian mirror). He was the Testing, Inspection and Certification Division – KEMA Labs Executive Vice President at CESI. Previously, he worked for international groups like Siemens, VATech, Schneider Electric as Service Director and Production Director. Domenico holds a Master’s degree in Electronic Engineering from Polytechnic School of Milan and an Executive Master in Technology and Business Administration from MIP School of Milan. He is married with three children.

Gianluca Marini is Executive Vice President of Consulting Division at CESI SpA, member of the Board of Director of ISTEDIL SpA, an Italian company acquired in 2016 by CESI, and Chairman of Enernex, a CESI US-based company. Prior to joining CESI, he also worked for Accenture, Enel and KME. Gianluca holds a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Trieste (Italy) and a MBA from the Bocconi School of Management of Milan (Italy).

Bas Verhoeven is currently Testing, Inspection and Certification Division – KEMA Labs Executive Vice President at CESI. He received a degree in Power Engineering from the Eindhoven University of Technology before joining KEMA in 1991 as R&D specialist on digital protection systems for high voltage power networks. As of 1995 he worked as a consultant on international projects for high voltage power network design and protection. In 2000, he was appointed as manager of KEMA’s High Voltage Laboratory, which became the world’s largest commercially operated laboratory under his guidance. Since 2011, he acted in various senior management roles in KEMA including High-Power Laboratory, High-Voltage Laboratory, innovation, marketing, and sales. Mr. Verhoeven held the position as Director High Voltage Laboratories in the global KEMA Labs. He is a member of the Board of the NEC, the Dutch IEC and member of the board of the international Short Circuit Test Liaison (STL). He has authored numerous papers on testing and certification of power components.

Marcello Biroli took the role of Chief Financial Officer of CESI in 2008, and he is Executive Vice President for the Group Administration, Finance, Control & IT. Prior to this, he covered for six years the position of Chief Financial Officer at Honeywell Italy for the Automation Division. He started his professional career in 1995 as intern in Andersen Consulting then in 1996 as Junior Controller in TotalFina and subsequently in 1998 as Controller in Atos Origin. Marcello graduated with honors in Business Economics from the University of Pavia, followed numerous Manager Development Program held by the Honeywell Learning Center in US and EMEA and he is Six Sigma certified. He’s married with children and keen on sports, having spent many years in the Skating and Hockey Italian Federation as an athlete of the Italian team and then as a coach.

Paolo Chighine has been Executive Vice President of Group External Relations of CESI since 2016, where he designs and manages communication and public affairs worldwide. He has 20+ years of experience gained in managerial positions for multinationals, international research centers and consultancy companies. In Enel, he was chief e-learning editor and then responsible for communication in Russia and external relations in Romania. He held courses and seminars in several universities. Paolo graduated with full marks in Communication Sciences from the University of Rome “La Sapienza”. In 2010, he was appointed “Knight” by the President of the Italian Republic.

Since September 2010 Daniela Losito has been CESI’s Group Audit Executive Vice President. She is also currently member of the Supervisory Board both of CESI S.p.A. and ISTEDIL S.p.A. She joined CESI in 2007 when she was appointed Purchasing and General Services Manager. Daniela began her professional career in 2002 in Enelpower, at Procurement Department. She holds a degree in Business Administration and Management from Milan University “Cattolica del Sacro Cuore”.

Manuela Mancini took the role of Legal Department Director of CESI in 2007, she is currently Executive Vice President for the Group Legal & Corporate Affairs and she is Secretary of CESI Board of Directors. She started her professional career in 2001 as in – house lawyer in the Legal Department of the broadcasting company Mediaset S.p.A., then in 2006 she joined Santa Maria Law firm, in the M&A and Corporate Department. Manuela graduated with laude in Law in the University of Naples and is admitted to the Italian Bar since 2004. She followed in Milan the Bocconi University - Master Course in Corporate and M&A. She is married with 1 child.

Federico is Executive Vice President of Group Human Resources at CESI since July 2017. Federico gained strong experience in fast paced, complex multinational companies, holding HR positions of increasing complexity up to full responsibility of the HR Department. Before joining CESI, Federico served as Head of HR holding the following positions: HR Manager Italy Business Unit in the Coca-Cola Company, Italy HR Director in Compass Group and Group HR Director in Sacchi Elettroforniture. He holds a Master of Science degree in Business Administration from the Bocconi University in Milan (Italy).

Torsten Hoth is Executive Vice President of the Group Procurement. Being in the CESI Group since 2015 he covered for five years the position of the Chief Financial Officer of CESI´s controlled in Germany and since 2020 the position of the Director Procurement of CESI´s Testing, Inspection and Certification Division. Prior to joining CESI, he worked in different Management functions - among others for Siemens in Italy. Torsten graduated with a Master's degree in Economics. He is married with two children.

Canio Pietragallo is Executive Vice President of Group Quality, Health, Safety & Environment Function at CESI SpA. Prior to joining CESI, he worked as Health & Safety Manager of Rome Fiumicino International Airport for Aeroporti di Roma, and had international experience in the Oil&Gas sector. Since 2015, he served as Safety, Health and Environment senior management at Qatargas in Doha, and before that on international EPC mega-projects with Techint, Foster Wheeler, Technip, and ENI-Agip, as Heath Safety and Environment director for operations, design, construction, and commissioning. He also worked as consultant for the Ministry of Justice and as tutor for postgraduate university masters in HSE. Moreover, he is author of numerous articles on occupational safety matters. Canio holds a Master's degree in Environmental Engineering (specializing in fluid georesources) from the University of Rome (Italy) and international IOSH and Nebosh qualifications.