In 1985 Dekkers worked for
General Electric (GE) in different research departments located in the US and the Netherlands. In 1988, he became Research Director of the GE range of
polymers and subsequently held management positions in various other polymer units. In 1995, Dekkers joined
Allied Signal (later named
Honeywell International Inc.) and took over the management of various business units. In 2000, he became COO at the Boston-based
Thermo Electron Corporation, one of the world's leading specialists in the manufacture of laboratory instruments. Within a short time, Dekkers implemented a complete corporate reorganization and became President and CEO in 2002. In this role, he initiated further extensive restructuring measures, divesting various organizational units and strengthening the company's core business by means of targeted acquisitions, including the purchase in 2006 of the laboratory consumables supplier
Fisher Scientific. After the acquisition, the company renamed as
Thermo Fisher Scientific, which employed 30,000 people in six business groups. On 1 January 2010 Dekkers was appointed to the board of Bayer AG and on 1 October 2010 he took over as CEO from
Werner Wenning. On 3 June 2014 Bayer AG announced that its Supervisory Board had extended Marijn Dekkers' term as CEO by two years, on expiration of the initial five-year period. Dekkers cited family reasons for extending his contract only until the end of 2016. He left Bayer on 30 April 2016 and was succeeded by Werner Baumann on 1 May 2016. Since April 2016 he was the Chairman of
Unilever until 13 November 2019. In 2017 Dekkers founded Novalis LifeSciences LLC, an investment and advisory firm for the Life Science industry (www.novalislifesciences.com). == Awards and recognition ==