DHL Express, the world’s leading provider of international express shipping, announced today the appointment of new regional CEOs for Europe and the Americas. Current Americas CEO Mike Parra is set to start a new role as the CEO for DHL Express Europe. Andrew Williams, current CEO for DHL Express Canada, will take on the role as the new regional CEO Americas effective January 1, 2024. Both will report to John Pearson, global CEO for DHL Express, and will be members of the DHL Express Global Management Board.

“These appointments recognize the strong leadership and commitment to service excellence and to our customers’ success of both Mike Parra and Andrew Williams. Mike has achieved many accomplishments in the Americas, including consistently strong revenue and profit growth, expansion of our leading international time definite network and an intense focus on employee engagement and well-being, and I’m excited to have him lead the organization in Europe,” said Pearson. “Andrew Williams has been a great leader for our organization in Canada, growing revenue by nearly four times during his tenure and increasing our market share in the country. I trust that with his strong business acumen and commitment to innovation, people development and customer satisfaction, he will continue moving the Americas region forward.”

Parra has been the Americas CEO since 2016. He has led the DHL Express division to double in size from a revenue perspective, adding more than 12,000 jobs and expanding its operational footprint in the region, most recently with new regional Hubs in the U.S., Mexico and Canada, and historic new direct in-network flights to Argentina, Chile and Brazil.

Having started his logistics career at DHL Express in 1997 as a service center manager in Miami, he has served several roles within the organization, including regional services director, VP of operations for the U.S., SVP of network operations for the Americas, and CEO for DHL Express U.S. He also oversees global sponsorships for the division and will continue to do so in his new role.

As the newly appointed regional CEO for Europe, Parra will manage the operations of the DHL Express business across more than 60 countries and territories. In this capacity, he will lead a team of over 46,000 employees dedicated to serving a customer base exceeding 1.3 million. Parra will be based in Madrid, Spain.

Williams began his career in logistics as a frontline sales executive at Loomis Express in 1996. Upon the integration of the Loomis business in 2002, he remained with DHL Group, taking over the position of sales director for Eastern Canada DHL Express. He moved laterally into the role of vice president and general manager for Ontario DHL Express in 2004 and then returned to the commercial function in 2009 as VP Sales, Marketing and Customer Service for DHL Express Canada. In late 2011, he took on the regional role of VP of Sales & Marketing of DHL Express Americas and had dual responsibilities as the board sponsor of the DHL Express Caribbean area. 

In 2015, he was appointed CEO of DHL Express Canada. During his time in the role, the Canada team doubled in size, and the country became a top-five inbound volume country in the world for DHL Express.

In his new role as regional CEO for the Americas, Williams will be responsible for the management of the DHL Express business in more than 55 countries and territories, leading more than 27,000 employees who serve more than 600,000 customers. He will be based at the DHL Express regional headquarters in Plantation, Florida.