About

Maria Hemberg began her legal career in 1988 as a trainee associate at law firm, Mannheimer Swartling. After a brief period as a law clerk at the District Court of Gothenburg, she re-joined the firm in 1990 as a senior associate serving for almost eleven years. During this period Hemberg was placed on a short-term assignment at Slaughter & May and also as legal counsel at SCA Hygene, a global producer and supplier of household hygiene goods, tissues, paper and timber. Following this taste of an in-house legal role, in September 2000 Hemberg joined Svenska Kullagerfabriken AB (SKF AB) as legal counsel. Here she focused on the mechanical engineering company’s mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures, in addition to contract law and corporate governance matters. She was involved in SKF’s global operations, working on matters in China, US, Korea and Brazil. She also served as a member of the automotive division’s management team. Hemberg joined her current company, Volvo Car Corporation, as general counselin February 2012 and now heads a team of 48. Drawing on her experiences, she has established a global legal team and built a robust intellectual property team that handles patents, trademarks and design matters within the company. She was also an integral part of handling the separation of Volvo Cars from Ford, a US car manufacturer. One of her biggest achievements at the company has been assuming the responsibility for corporate strategy and sustainability. Regarding this she says ‘influencing the strategic direction of Volvo Cars and its development, to ensure my units are seen as business enablers and not obstacles’ is the most enjoyable aspect of her role. Hemberg is also committed to developing good leaders and specialists in her team in order to maximise their input into the business.