Stephane Bungener

I'm an industrial engineer turned operator, with 15 years of experience across fundamental research, McKinsey, and director-level roles in heavy industry and cleantech. My background sits at an unusual intersection: deep technical credibility in capital-intensive systems, McKinsey-grade structured problem-solving, and repeated operational delivery in live, high-stakes environments.

I started with a PhD from EPFL in industrial process and energy engineering, which gave me a genuine understanding of how complex industrial systems work including process design, and physical constraints. That foundation matters when working with engineering teams, plant operators, or technical counterparties who can tell immediately whether you know what you're talking about.

From there, I joined McKinsey's operations and transformations practice, where I led engagements across manufacturing, chemicals, and energy. The work sharpened my ability to move fast in ambiguous situations, structure problems under pressure, and communicate clearly at executive level without losing the technical substance underneath.

Since McKinsey, I have led at scale in industry. At Yara, I built and ran a $200M+ global environmental program across 28 industrial sites and nine countries, managing a cross-functional team of nine and coordinating with plant managers, engineering leads, finance, and the executive committee simultaneously. At Climeworks, I led industrial partnerships and strategy, closing over $150M in commercial deals and working across technical, legal, and commercial functions in high-growth environment.

The mandates I take on tend to share a common thread: something complex needs to get built or fixed, the organization does not yet have a clean playbook for it. I work in English and French and am based in Zurich. I take on project work selectively, where I can go deep, own outcomes, and leave something that actually works behind me.