Francisco Pires

Senior Vice President and President, Novelis South America

Francisco Pires is President of Novelis South America, the leading sustainable aluminum solutions provider and world leader in aluminum rolling and recycling. Appointed to the position in 2019, Pires oversees all aspects of the company’s business in the region, including the current expansion of the rolling and recycling facilities in Pindamonhangaba, Brazil, being constructed to meet the demands of the growing beverage can market.

Pires joined Novelis in 2012 as Procurement Director for Novelis South America, moving to the position of Director, Procurement and Supply Chain a year later. As part of those roles, Pires led the development of strategic sourcing models, as well as the inventory optimization for the region’s supply chain. In 2014, Pires was named Vice President, Commercial, for Novelis South America, where he led the growth of sales, customer satisfaction and development of new markets in Brazil and Latin America. After four years in the Commercial function, Pires was appointed as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the region. In this role, he oversaw the region’s Operations, Sales, Procurement (Metal & Non-Metal), Recycling and Supply Chain functions, while also preparing the region for future investments.

Prior to joining Novelis, Pires held various roles in engineering, consulting, international logistics, purchasing and supply chain. With nearly 30 years of experience, Pires has served in leadership positions at companies such as Fibria, Votorantim Cellulose & Paper, Maxlog and Bureau Veritas.

Pires holds a degree in naval engineering from the University of Rio de Janeiro and a master’s degree in business from COPPEAD. He also participated in leadership development programs in conjunction with Academia Votorantim in Brazil and with Duke University in the United States, Germany and China.