The new chief executive of British aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce on Tuesday named an executive from his former employer BP to help overhaul the aerospace giant.
Tufan Erginbilgic, who replaced long-serving boss Warren East at the start of the year, has hired Nicola Grady-Smith as transformation director, a company spokesperson said.
Grady-Smith spent 18 years at BP in various roles including as chief of staff at its downstream division, which was headed at the time by Erginbilgic.
She is an “experienced leader with extensive international turnaround experience and a proven track record of delivery”, the spokesperson added.
“As Tufan made clear to employees last month, we need to significantly improve the performance of Rolls-Royce and Nicola will be instrumental in achieving that.”
The firm will give more details on the turnaround plan on February 23 alongside annual results.
Erginbilgic, a dual UK and Turkish national, worked for more than 20 years at energy major BP.
Former Rolls-Royce CEO East decided to step down after a tumultuous eight years at the helm.
Under his tenure, the group axed more than 9,000 jobs and launched a major divestment program in 2020 to navigate damaging pandemic fallout across the aviation industry.
Rolls-Royce in 2021 launched plans to build small low-cost nuclear reactors.
And in 2022, the group successfully tested a hydrogen-powered aircraft engine with UK airline EasyJet, in what they decribed as a world first for aviation.
Rolls-Royce’s share price slid 0.1 percent to finish Tuesday at 107.96 pence on London’s rising stock market.