Tufan Erginbilgic

Chief Executive

Tenure

Appointed to the Board on 1 January 2023

Nationality

British and Turkish

Career highlights

Tufan has a background in engineering and has built his career in international business with over twenty years with BP, six years as part of its executive team. He held a number of senior roles at BP, including CEO of Lubricants, BP and Castrol; Chief of Staff to the Group CEO; and Chief Operating Officer of the downstream business, becoming its CEO in 2014 until 2020. Tufan has held several non-executive directorships in heavy industry and manufacturing. These include aerospace technology group GKN; energy, healthcare technology group DCC plc; and energy company Türkiye Petrol Rafinerileri A.Ş (Tupras). He is currently a non-executive director of multinational transport vehicle manufacturer Iveco Group NV. Tufan was a partner of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a private equity firm focused on large-scale investments in infrastructure businesses until 2022 and was senior advisor at GIP from January 2023 to January 2024.

Tufan has a BSc in engineering, a Master of Business Administration degree and an MA in economics.

Board skills and competencies

Tufan is a proven leader of winning teams within complex multinational organisations, with over six years as CEO of BP’s downstream business. He drives a high-performance culture and delivers results for investors. He has extensive strategic and operational experience and a firm understanding of safety critical industries as well as the challenges and commercial opportunities presented by the drive for low carbon technologies. Tufan has a strong track record for execution, delivery and the creation of significant value and a stated ambition to deliver the full potential of the market positions which Rolls-Royce has built over many years, through its engineering excellence and innovative technology.

Helen McCabe

Chief Financial Officer

Tenure

Appointed to the Board on 4 August 2023

Nationality

British

Career highlights

Helen brings more than 25 years of experience in senior finance and performance management roles within complex multinational engineering organisations. Helen was previously senior vice president, finance for the Customer & Products division of BP, which runs the company’s customer-focused business. She also held accountabilities for BP’s global refining portfolio. Helen has considerable international experience having previously been chief financial officer of BP Downstream’s fuels and refining Europe & Southern Africa businesses. Prior to that, she spent four years as head of planning and performance management for the downstream division, helping to drive the successful transformation of the business and dramatically improve its financial returns. Helen started her career with Ernst & Young where she trained and qualified as a chartered accountant after graduating from the University of Cambridge with a BA in history.

Board skills and competence

Helen has a track record of promoting rigorous financial discipline and her experience of delivering performance management to achieve dramatic improvements will be invaluable as the Group moves, at pace, to transform Rolls-Royce. Her skillset will complement the existing capabilities of the Executive Team, contributing to Rolls-Royce delivering on its significant potential.

Sarah Armstrong

Chief People Officer

Tenure

Appointed Chief People Officer in January 2022

Career highlights

Sarah has over 30 years of HR experience, working across multiple industries to define and deliver effective people and HR strategies with a strong commercial focus. Throughout most of her career she has been instrumental in helping companies develop organisational and leadership capability, talent management and enabling strategic change.

Prior to this role, Sarah was People Director – Civil Aerospace at Rolls-Royce and was pivotal in delivering a key restructuring programme for the Company. Sarah has held many senior HR roles during her career, providing great organisational leadership and delivering innovative people initiatives across multiple HR disciplines. Sarah is a director of Rolls-Royce plc.

Simon Burr MBE

Group Director of Engineering, Technology and Safety

Tenure

Appointed Group Director of Engineering, Technology and Safety in October 2023

Career highlights

In 2023, Simon was appointed Rolls-Royce Group Director of Engineering, Technology and Safety. He has over a decade’s experience in senior roles in Rolls-Royce Civil Aerospace including as Engineering & Technology Director, Chief Operating Officer Civil Large Engines and Project Director – Trent XWB. Simon joined Rolls-Royce in 2012 when Aero Engine Controls, a JV between Rolls-Royce and Goodrich Corporation where he was CEO, was acquired outright.

He is a Chartered Engineer with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He was appointed MBE for Services to the Aerospace Industry in the UK in 2009.

Chris Cholerton

Group President

Tenure

Appointed Group President in April 2023

Career highlights

Chris became Group President in April 2023. As part of this role, he has executive responsibility for the Group’s nuclear operations, including Rolls-Royce Submarines and CEO of Rolls-Royce SMR, and was appointed Chair of Rolls-Royce Submarines Limited in August 2023. Prior to this role, Chris was President of our Civil Aerospace business from March 2018 and President of our Defence business from 2015 to 2018. He has held engineering, programme and operational leadership positions in both our Civil Aerospace and Defence businesses and has worked closely with key airframe partners, airline customers and governments.

From 2012 to 2015 he ran an important part of our global supply chain operations, covering manufacturing plants, purchasing and strategy. From 2006 to early 2012, Chris led Civil Aerospace’s largest new product introduction and production programmes, including as Director of the Trent XWB programme where he achieved milestones up to the first engine flight. Before this, he held posts as Director – Boeing Programmes and Director – Airbus Production Programmes. Earlier, he was Director – Joint Strike Fighter in the Defence business, leading the programme which delivered the novel Rolls-Royce LiftSystem^® for the Lockheed Martin F-35B.

Chris joined Rolls-Royce as an undergraduate in 1981 and graduated with a degree in Engineering Science from Oxford University. He is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer, a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and a Fellow of the Association of Project Management.

Nicola Grady-Smith

Chief Transformation Officer

Tenure

Appointed Chief Transformation Officer in February 2023 and joined the Executive Committee in October 2023

Career highlights

Prior to joining Rolls-Royce, Nicola held several senior executive global and European roles in BP, including CEO of UK fuels, a £3bn turnover business, and key positions in the executive offices of the CEO of alternative energy, gas, shipping and downstream. She also chaired BP's UK employee forum through a period of complex organisational change. Previously, Nicola held various commercial roles in Tesco and Allied Domecq. She holds a masters in International Business law.

Nicola has a proven track record of leading numerous business and transformation changes, creating value for stakeholders.

Adam Riddle

President – Defence; Chairman & CEO – Rolls-Royce North America

Tenure

Appointed President – Defence in March 2023

Career highlights

Adam has spent over a decade in Defence and played a pivotal role in the recent success of the business, most recently leading its global services operations. In his previous role as Director of Strategy & Future Programmes, he was instrumental in the business securing the strategically important long-term contracts to re-engine the US Air Force’s B-52 aircraft and to provide the propulsion system for the US Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) Program. Prior to Rolls-Royce, Adam worked within the defence operations of Boeing. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy, West Point, and served as an Armor Officer in the US Army.

Dr Jörg Stratmann

CEO - Rolls-Royce Power Systems AG

Tenure

Appointed Chief Executive Officer of Rolls-Royce Power Systems AG, President of Rolls-Royce's Power Systems business, Chairman of the Management Board of Rolls-Royce Power Systems AG, Chairman of the Management Board of Rolls-Royce Solutions GmbH in November 2022.

Career highlights

Before joining Rolls-Royce, Jörg was chief executive officer and chairman of the management board for the automotive supplier Mahle GmbH where he initiated and led the transformation from an ICE focused company to a supplier for alternative and sustainable thermal and powertrain systems and solutions. Prior to this, Jörg held a number of senior roles with the electrical group Siemens, gaining international management experience in the USA, Italy, Romania and Germany.

Jörg has a doctorate and a masters degree, industrial engineering from the Technical University of Berlin, Germany.

Martin Thomsen

Chief Procurement and Supply Chain Officer

Tenure

Appointed Group Chief Procurement and Supply Chain Officer in March 2026

Career highlights

Prior to joining Rolls-Royce, Martin held several senior executive roles at BP across Europe, Latin America, Asia and South Africa, spanning portfolio strategy, operations and transformation. From 2020 to 2023, as CEO, Air BP, he led the business through the COVID19 pandemic and aviation downturn while delivering record commercial results. Most recently, Martin led BP’s Mobility and Convenience in Europe, global EV Charging and Bioethanol business in Brazil.

Martin holds a Master of Engineering Science from the Instituto Tecnológico, Buenos Aires, MBA from Instituto del Empresa and is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School Programme for Leadership Development.

Maria Varsellona

Chief Legal Officer

Tenure

Appointed Chief Legal Officer in March 2026

Career highlights

Maria Varsellona joined Rolls-Royce in March 2026, bringing three decades of international inhouse legal leadership across highly regulated, technology driven and industrial businesses.

Prior to joining Rolls-Royce, Maria served as Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary at Unilever, where she played a key role in supporting major strategic and transformational initiatives.

Earlier in her career, Maria held senior legal leadership roles at ABB, Nokia, where she was also President of Nokia Technologies, as well as Tetra Pak and GE Oil & Gas, giving her deep experience across engineering, technology, and global manufacturing sectors.

Maria holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Palermo, Italy, has served on several international boards and currently is a member of the Sandoz Board of Directors.

Dr Rob Watson

President – Civil Aerospace

Tenure

Appointed President - Civil Aerospace in March 2023

Career highlights

Prior to being appointed President – Civil Aerospace, Rob was President - Rolls-Royce Electrical and played a fundamental role in building the Rolls-Royce Electrical business since October 2017. Prior to this role, Rob held a number of different roles across the Group, joining as Regional Director, Middle East, before taking on a number of customer business and programme management leadership roles. He was also Chief of Staff to the Chief Executive. Rob worked in the oil and gas industry before joining Rolls-Royce. He started his career as a diplomat with the British Foreign Office.