CSL taps ViiV chief Deborah Waterhouse to lead its next growth chapter

Waterhouse takes CSL leadership from February

CSL Limited (ASX:CSL) has chosen Deborah Waterhouse, the chief executive of GSK-owned ViiV Healthcare, as its next CEO and managing director, ending the company’s interim leadership period from 1 February 2027. The appointment follows a global search and gives CSL a permanent leader with experience across specialty pharmaceuticals, vaccines and international commercial operations.

Waterhouse has led ViiV since 2017, overseeing a specialist HIV business that recorded £7.7 billion in sales during GSK’s 2025 financial year. Her earlier roles included leadership of GSK’s US vaccines and primary care businesses, as well as general manager of Australia and New Zealand from 2008 to 2012. She also serves as President of GSK Global Health and joined Reckitt’s board in July 2026.

A leadership brief centred on growth and simplification

CSL chair Dr Brian McNamee said the next chief executive needed to maintain commercial momentum, renew the pipeline and simplify the organisation without losing its scientific focus. Those priorities arrive after CSL’s

“Deborah has done all those things on multiple occasions,” McNamee said, describing Waterhouse as a global leader with the ability to grow complex businesses, build pipelines and manage partnerships. The board’s decision was unanimous, according to CSL (ASX:CSL).

Waterhouse said CSL’s foundations were strong and that her task would be to “continue the momentum and evolve the path into reliable growth for patients and shareholders”. The filing does not attach specific financial targets or strategic milestones to that objective, leaving her early priorities to be established after she takes office.

Compensation includes GSK incentive replacement

Waterhouse will receive a base salary of £1.5 million a year. Her first short-term incentive award is set at 120% of base salary at target and 240% at maximum, prorated from her start date, with 30% deferred for two years as equity. Her first long-term incentive award, scheduled for September 2027, is worth 250% of base salary at target and 500% at maximum, subject to performance conditions over a three-year period.

CSL will also provide replacement awards for incentives Waterhouse is expected to forfeit at GSK. The package includes restricted stock units valued at £7.71 million, subject to adjustment before grant, plus £1.65 million in performance stock units. The awards carry service and performance conditions, including a holding lock on the performance units, so their disclosed values are not equivalent to guaranteed cash payments.

Gordon Naylor will remain interim CEO and managing director until Waterhouse begins, then return to the board as a non-executive director. Waterhouse will retain her UK base and spend significant time in Australia, the United States and CSL’s major markets and operational centres. A restriction also prevents her involvement in CSL’s Seqirus business until 31 March 2027 because of her previous employment in a competing business.