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Executive leadership team

BHP Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Mackenzie, today announced changes to the BHP Executive Leadership Team to reflect BHP’s simplified portfolio and transformation agenda.

Joining the Executive Leadership Team are:

Geraldine Slattery, President Operations Petroleum
Vandita Pant, Chief Commercial Officer
Jonathan Price, Chief Transformation Officer
Laura Tyler, Chief Geoscientist

They join Peter Beaven, Geoff Healy, Mike Henry, Diane Jurgens, Danny Malchuk and Athalie Williams on the Executive Leadership Team.

Geraldine Slattery will lead BHP’s Petroleum business which includes oil and gas interests and development and exploration programs in the US, Australia, Mexico and Canada, effective 18 March 2019. Geraldine has 25 years’ of experience with BHP, most recently as Asset President Conventional and has led a number of teams across the Petroleum business.  She brings a strong combination of in-field technical experience and global leadership experience gained in the UK, Australia and the US.

Vandita Pant will assume the position of Chief Commercial Officer from 1 July 2019.  Vandita brings strong global financial market and business development experience to the role. As Group Treasurer and Head of Europe, she has played a critical role in the execution of BHP’s capital allocation framework, strengthened BHP’s balance sheet and led the successful capital management program to return to shareholders the US$10.4 billion of net proceeds from the sale of BHP’s US Onshore assets. Prior to BHP, Vandita held roles within ABN Amro and Royal Bank of Scotland and has lived and worked in Singapore, India and Japan.

Jonathan Price, currently Transformation Director, will assume the role of Chief Transformation Officer effective 1 March 2019 and join the Executive Leadership Team. Jonathan has held senior roles within BHP in Nickel, Marketing, Iron Ore and Finance where he has worked with governments, joint venture partners, customers, industry peers, investors and advisors.  He will bring this global business experience and a track record of delivery and change management to this new role. 

Laura Tyler will continue in her current role as Asset President Olympic Dam based in Adelaide reporting to Mike Henry. In addition to her direct responsibility for Olympic Dam, Laura will re-join the Executive Leadership Team from 1 March 2019 as Chief Geoscientist and bring a focus on geoscience and resource engineering risk management. She will lead technical experts to meet current and future requirements, given the importance of exploration and strategic resource management to BHP’s transformation agenda.

Arnoud Balhuizen will return to the Netherlands after 25 years with Billiton and BHP. During Arnoud’s time as Chief Commercial Officer, he led the successful integration of BHP’s Marketing and Supply groups into one global commercial team. Through his leadership and vision, BHP’s commercial function has developed strong global partnerships and created significant value.

Following the successful completion of the sale of BHP’s US Onshore assets, Steve Pastor, has decided to leave BHP. Steve’s leadership and oil and gas industry expertise, as President Operations Petroleum, has delivered a world class, strategically focused business.

Andrew Mackenzie said “These management changes are an important step as we plan for the future of BHP. The elevation of geoscience and transformation to the Executive Leadership Team demonstrates the determination we have to advance the best science, technology and people to make our operations safer and more productive.

“I thank Arnoud and Steve for their significant contribution to BHP. Their expertise, integrity and commitment will leave a strong legacy in their respective areas of the business and across the company more broadly.”