Her career at the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) began in 1985 as a secretary in Bern. In this function, Helene Budliger made her first foreign assignments in Lagos in Nigeria, Havana in Cuba and San Francisco in the US.[2] She completed the FDFA stage in Bern and the practical part as a consular employee in Strasbourg.[1] She successfully completed the stage in 1994.[3] Budliger Artieda's first stop after her training took her to Lima, Peru, where she met her future husband.[3]
During her employment at the Swiss Embassy in Colombia, Helen Budliger Artieda studied business administration in Bogotá.[1] She completed her studies with a Master's degree. She returned to Switzerland in 2000 and held various positions in the FDFA's Finance Division. From 1 July 2006 to 2008, Budliger Artieda was Head of Finance at the FDFA.[1] In 2008, Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey appointed Helen Budliger Artieda as the first female director of the FDFA. On 1 October 2008, Budliger Artieda took over the Directorate for Resources at the FDFA from Martin Dahinden,[1] who became head of the SDC. Until September 2015, she headed 380 employees and managed an annual budget volume of three billion Swiss francs.[3]
In September 2015, Helene Budiger Artieda became Swiss Ambassador to South Africa.[4]Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini and Mauritius were also part of her remit.[3] She was also Ambassador to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Gaborone.[4] On 14 December 2018, the Federal Council appointed Helene Budliger Artieda as Swiss ambassador to Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.[4] She took up the new post in October 2019, succeeding Ivo Sieber.[1] In 2022, she was proposed to the Federal Council by a search committee as the successor to Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch as Director of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). She took up the post on 1 August 2022.[5]
Helene Budliger Artieda is married and has her second home in Eich LU. She grew up in Dübendorf.[3]
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