Rio Tinto recently announced several changes to its senior management team. Stephen McIntosh has been named acting group executive for Technology & Innovation (T&I) to succeed Greg Lilleyman, who will leave the company after 25 years of service. McIntosh will join the Rio Tinto executive committee with immediate effect and retain the Exploration portfolio.

McIntosh has worked on projects in more than 45 countries spanning the breadth of minerals and metals. Most recently, he was head of Exploration, leading a global team of 450 employees operating in 20 countries. Prior to this, he led Rio Tinto’s Project Generation Group for six years and transformed its activities to build a world-leading team of commodity, technical, and ore body knowledge experts. 

“Stephen is a highly respected member of Rio Tinto’s senior leadership ranks and brings to his new role a breadth of experience across multiple commodities and geographies,” said Sam Walsh, CEO. “For a long time now, our T&I function has provided a point of strategic differentiation for Rio Tinto and Stephen will spearhead the group’s drive for further productivity improvement across the business.” 

Lilleyman has made a significant contribution to the development of Rio Tinto’s Pilbara operations, where he spent the majority of his time with the business. He also held senior operational roles in the Hunter Valley of NSW and Canada. 

“Greg has had a long career with Rio Tinto and played an important role in the development of our industry-leading Mine of the Future™ program in our Pilbara iron ore operations and has led our productivity drive,” said Walsh. “We wish him well for the future.” 

For more information, visit www.riotinto.com.