Thomas Toepfer has been appointed new chief financial officer of German engineering plastics producer Covestro. On Apr. 1, 2018, the 45-year-old will take over from Patrick Thomas, who has acted as interim CFO in addition to his function as CEO since the resignation of former CEO Frank Lutz in June of this year.

A native of Hamburg, Germany, Toepfer began his professional career as chief financial officer of the Karstadt department store. Since 2012, he has been CFO and labor director of Kion Group.

Patrick Thomas will continue to serve as Covestro’s CEO until Sept. 30, 2018, when he will be succeeded by Markus Steilemann.