Ubisoft has appointed Cécile Russeil as its new executive vice president overseeing communications, corporate affairs, diversity, inclusion, accessibility, human resources, and legal matters.

According to VentureBeat, Russeil has over three decades of experience at Ubisoft following pivotal leadership roles. She established the legal department for the French publisher in 2000 and has served as the Chief Legal Officer for the past ten years.

Moreover, she has been a member of the company's executive committee since 2022. In her new role, the Assassin's Creed company will utilise Russeil's experience in international business law and leverage her understanding of the company's organizational culture.

Positive transformation

Russeil's new role merges various responsibilities previously held by the departed chief people officer Anika Grant. With oversight in DEI, HR, and Legal affairs, Russeil is positioned to drive positive change within the company through direct input and influence in each department. 

Her new role follows a period of extended uncertainty as gaming giant has picked its way poor performance, studio closures, layoffs, takeover threats, probes into company culture, claims of toxicity within their games, and relentless management restructures. It's clear that that management now feel that appointing an experienced steady hand with far-reaching role is now the way to go.

“I am incredibly motivated to bring together the leadership of these key functions in order to enhance our organizational agility and ensure seamless alignment between corporate affairs, communications, DIA, HR, and legal strategies across all our global operations,” said Russeil.

Ubisoft CEO and co-founder Yves Guillemot says, “Her relentless pursuit of excellence and dedication to our teams are acknowledged and valued by all. I am fully confident in her capability to embrace this new challenge and inspire the teams in these key areas, to drive Ubisoft’s sustained growth.”