Maurício Novis Botelho (Rio de Janeiro, 1942) is a Brazilian businessman.
He graduated in 1965 with a degree in mechanical engineering from the National School of Engineering at the University of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro (now the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro – UFRJ), with several extension courses in finance and management.
Shortly after graduation, he worked as an engineer in various companies from 1965 to 1968, when he was appointed manager and later director of Empresa Brasileira de S.A. Engenharia, responsible for business development and project execution in the areas of energy generation and transmission, steel, mining, and petrochemicals.
In 1981, he became director of Cobrel Maquip S.A. Comércio e Engenharia, a subsidiary of Cia Bozano, Simonsen, involved in managing industrial projects and implementing process control systems, assuming the position of CEO from 1985 onward.
From 1988 to 1995, Maurício Botelho was president of Odebrecht Automation and Telecommunications Ltd. (OTL) and its subsidiaries, focusing on implementing control systems mainly in railways, subways, and energy systems—through its subsidiary CMW Ltda.—and in telecommunications and data transmission through subsidiaries STL – Engenharia de Sistemas Ltda. and Soluções Integradas Prolan Ltda.
At Tenenge – Técnica Nacional de Engenharia S.A. in 1992, he served as executive vice president of this Odebrecht Group subsidiary, responsible for executing industrial projects, including oil and gas production drilling platforms, with manufacturing of structures and processing modules in Brazil, the United Kingdom, and Portugal.
He was executive director of Cia. Bozano (formerly Bozano, Simonsen), managing the group’s investment holdings.
On September 27, 1995, he was elected CEO of Embraer and subsequently led the post-privatization restructuring, establishing a new corporate business culture focused on customer satisfaction, resulting in the company’s repositioning.
He was chairman of the board of directors of Embraer until January 2012, is a board member of CBMM – Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração, and remains part of the Federal Government’s Economic and Social Development Council.
He joined the board of directors of Perdigão during its merger with Sadia, creating BRF. In March 2010, he joined Arsenal Finanças, a corporate finance company focused on mergers and acquisitions, leading new business development and holding an institutional role in the market.
In December 2009, he was named by the Harvard Business Review as one of the top 100 senior executives in the world, ranking 65th. Alongside Maurício Botelho, the only other Brazilian on the list of the top 100 global executives was Benjamin Steinbruch, who leads Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN), ranked 15th.