Rivers was now chief financial officer at Roche Pharmaceutical Division, based in Switzerland.
His appointment at Fonterra was a replacement for Lukas Paravicini, who also came from Switzerland and a general manager position with Nestle Professional Europe in 2013.
After four years Paravicini moved to become chief operating officer of consumer and food service on June 1 and the acting chief financial officer since then had been Paul Washer.
In the Roche role, Rivers had oversight of $50 billion in annual sales and 14 manufacturing sites around the world.
His global experience came from living and working in emerging and established markets including Thailand, China, Japan, Europe and the United States.
Rivers gained a Bachelor of Arts in international studies and an International Masters of Business Administration, Finance and German from the University of South Carolina.
“He will be a great addition to the Fonterra management team. His track record of global financial leadership and his personal alignment to our Fonterra values will be a real asset to us,” chief executive Theo Spierings said.
