Cláudio Valente, is the 43-year-old manager who leads the Human Resources department at the furniture retailer IKEA. He studied Business Management and began his professional career at the Simoldes Group, where he remained for nine years, always working in Human Resources. His first management position was at SPPM, located at Autoeuropa's supplier park, as Human Resources Director. His curriculum includes companies such as the Sodecia Group, where he was Human Resources Director of the European Division, based in Germany, before joining the IKEA Industry team, in 2011, as Human Resources Director for the production units in Portugal. Two years later, he takes on new challenge at the IKEA Group: as the Human Resources Director for the IKEA Flatline Division, which counts with 9200 professionals in 23 production units spread across nine countries (Poland, Sweden, United States, Lithuania, Slovakia, Hungary, China and Portugal). He reached his current position in January 2016. His profile is differentiated and is very oriented towards global management models – the result of a career where international projects and the management and leadership responsibilities in various different countries has always been a reality.