Marc Siegenthaler becomes Director of the Federal Office for Civil Protection
The Federal Council has appointed Marc Siegenthaler as Director of the Federal Office for Civil Protection FOCP. He will take over as Director of the FOCP on August 1, 2026, succeeding Michaela Schärer, who will leave at the end of April 2026.
Marc Siegenthaler, 50, has been Deputy Secretary General of the DDPS since 2017. He holds a degree in business administration from the Bern School of Business and Administration, specializing in public and administrative management. In 2011, he obtained an Executive Master of Business Administration from the University of Zurich, specializing in general and intercultural management.
After several years at the US auditing and consulting firm Deloitte, he moved to the Federal Office of Personnel in 1999, where he headed the Human Resources and Budgeting Section from 2006. He was appointed Head of Human Resources DDPS in January 2014 and Head of Resources DDPS in October 2016. In 2017, he was appointed Deputy Secretary General of the DDPS. He represents the Secretary General DDPS in management, organizational and resource matters, in DDPS ownership policy, in advising the Head of Department DDPS and in managing the General Secretariat and the offices.
The Head of the DDPS appointed a search committee to fill the vacant position. The committee consisted of Daniel Büchel, Secretary General DDPS, Robert Scheidegger, Deputy Secretary General and Head of Planning, Controlling, Digitization and Security DDPS, National Ensign Jakob Signer, President of the RK MZF, Director of Justice, Police and Military, Canton of Appenzell Innerhoden, State Councillor Romain Collaud, Head of the Security, Justice and Sport Directorate (SJSD), Canton of Fribourg and Christine Hofmann, former Deputy Director of the Federal Office for the Environment.
The application process has shown that Marc Siegenthaler fully meets the requirements profile for the position of Director FOCP due to his education and training, his track record and his many years of experience in the Federal Administration. In particular, he has operational and strategic management experience and in-depth knowledge of the Swiss security landscape, federal finances and the federal IT environment. He is very familiar with the processes of politics and public administration at federal level and is able to assess and successfully conclude complex transactions in a political, economic and technical context. The Federal Council is convinced that Marc Siegenthaler's track record and skills will strengthen cooperation between the Confederation, the cantons and security policy partners.
Source: FOCP
