Mr. Simion-Dorin Rusu originates from the Transylvanian city of Hermannstadt-Sibiu, former European Capital of Culture in 2007.

Mr. Rusu has a Bachelor Degree in Law and a Master Degree in Comparative Local Development from the Universities of Trento, Italy and Regensburg, Germany. He has received also a Fellowship in the South Eastern European Leadership Development Programme developed by College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium.

He previously worked as a Consultant on European Affairs for the Prefecture of Sibiu County, as an Associate Assistant with the Faculty of Political Science, International Relations and Security Studies of Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Romania. He has also worked as a consultant and as a trainer for various international donors in the Western Balkans.

Between 2011-2012 he held a position as Personal Advisor in the cabinet of two ministers of economy in the Romanian Government. He has served as member in the Board of Nominees of Fondul Proprietatea S.A., a closed-end investment fund listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and a member of the Administrative Board of E.ON Gas Distribution Romania.

Before joining Microsoft Romania, Mr. Rusu worked as a Senior Consultant with Maldon&Wat, a leading lobby and consultancy firm based in Bucharest. In his capacity, Mr. Rusu provided government affairs consultancy support for a range of clients in the energy, telecom and financial sectors. This consisted of strategy development, issue monitoring, stakeholder identification, planning of outreach programmes and in-depth policy reports for the energy sector.