BHP has today announced two changes to the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) effective 1 October 2022. Edgar Basto will be appointed Chief Operating Officer and Geraldine Slattery will be appointed President of Australia.
Senior Operations Officer
As Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Basto will enable the acceleration of safety and productivity improvements throughout the Group. He will have responsibility for the ongoing transformation of BHP through the inclusion of BHP’s Operating System, and for BHP’s global Performance and Improvement and Health, Safety and Environment functions.
Since May 2020, Mr. Basto was President of Minerals Australia. Mr Basto has over 30 years of operating experience in BHP’s minerals footprint, including time as President of Assets of BHP’s two largest assets, Iron Ore in Western Australia and Escondida, and head of the global health, safety and environment of BHP.
President Australia
As President of Australia, Ms Slattery will be responsible for BHP’s Australian operations.
From March 2019 until the completion of the Woodside merger in June this year, Ms Slattery was President Petroleum and led BHP’s business which included oil and gas interests and development and exploration programs in the US, Australia, Trinidad & Tobago, Algeria, Mexico and Canada. Ms Slattery has 28 years of operational and global leadership experience gained in the UK, Australia and the US.
BHP Chief Executive Mike Henry said: “I am delighted to announce these new appointments. Operational safety and reliability are at the heart of value creation at BHP. These two meetings will enable us to build on the strong performance we have delivered in recent years to deliver even better safety and productivity results. Edgar and Geraldine’s unique leadership experiences and skills, together with the newly created role of COO, will ensure that BHP is best placed to continue to operate reliably and deliver value in an increasingly complex and unstable.
Geraldine has navigated the oil business through the intensity of the successful merger and integration with Woodside, delivering outstanding business performance. Geraldine brings a strong combination of technical field expertise, risk management and global leadership experience, and has a track record of generating shareholder value and developing teams of exceptional culture.
With extensive leadership experience in Australia, Chile, Colombia and Peru, Edgar is uniquely positioned to enable the next wave of safety and operational improvement across BHP. As Chief Operating Officer, Edgar will ensure that operational capability is central to our growth agenda and he will drive strong operational leadership across the company.”
As a result of these changes and the recent appointment of Jad Vodopija as Chief of the People, the ELT will consist of:
- Chief Operating Officer, Edgar Basto
- Chief Legal Officer, Governance and External Affairs Officer, Caroline Cox
- Chief Financial Officer, David Lamont
- Chief Commercial Officer, Vandita Pant
- The President of Australia, Geraldine Slattery
- Chief Technical Officer, Laura Tyler
- The President of America, Ragnar Udd
- Head of Development, Johan van Jaarsveld
- Chief of the People, Jad Vodopija
