Top 10: HR Leaders in Energy

As the energy landscape undergoes significant shifts towards net zero, developing a people strategy to navigate change is growing in importance. 

Leading people professionals in the energy sector are navigating global teams through massive change and volatility, prioritising workforce upskilling as business needs change. 

Here, we’re taking a closer look at the 10 of the HR leaders in this sector who are building impactful people strategies during this period of change.

10. Susie Kutansky

Company: Constellation Energy

Revenue: US$25.53bn

Location: Maryland, US

As the CHRO of the largest producer of carbon-free energy in the US, Susie Kutansky is developing a people strategy to fill the Nuclear talent gap. 

With the Nuclear Industry association finding that 120,000 people are needed in the nuclear industry by 2030, Constellation Energy is working to expand its talent pipeline – offering hands-on training to build diverse and sustainable careers for new talent.

The company has developed specialised programmes to help build this talent pipeline, such as a Nuclear Maintenance Training Programme, which provides on-the-job-training for electrical, mechanical and control maintenance technicians, and a Youth Energy Summit to give college students real world experience in STEM. 

9. Sloane Drake

Company: Southern Company

Revenue: US$29.6bn

Location: Georgia, US

Southern Company CHRO Sloane Drake has played a significant role in helping the energy company build a people first philosophy – designed to support the company’s business goals of delivering safe and affordable energy while focusing on inclusion and talent development.

Having joined Southern Company in 2001 on a professional development programme, Sloane has helped develop strategic initiatives across all areas of the company’s human resources function – including leading the HR team responsible for HR delivery and staffing at its two nuclear units in Plant Vogtle. 

8. Cameron McDonald

Company: Duke Energy

Revenue: US$32.23bn

Location: North Carolina, US

Cameron McDonald has been at Duke Energy since 2001, having held numerous roles in the company's human resources function – including Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Vice President of Talent Acquisition and Management and Chief Human Resources Officer, which she has held since January 2024. 

The company has prioritised developing safe working conditions as part of its employee wellbeing offering, and is upskilling its employees to meet its net-zero carbon emissions goals and help employees progress in their careers. 

This includes programmes to improve and refine technical skills, leadership development training and continuing education initiatives. 

7. Steven Baert

Company: GE Vernova

Revenue: US$38.1bn

Location: Massachusetts, US

Since joining GE Vernova as Chief People Officer in April 2023, Steven Baert h

as been responsible for ensuring the company’s people strategy can drive performance and align with current and future business needs. 

A central foundation of the company’s people strategy is its ‘One Team’ culture, which encourages teams across the business to work together and deliver functional value. 

The company has more than 85,000 employees operating in more than 100 countries – and all are encouraged to support one another, embrace diverse perspectives and ensure all teams are united in a cohesive, global identity. 

6. Luca Bovo

Company: Iberdrola

Revenue: US$52.23bn

Location: Bilbao, Spain

Iberdrola has said it views employees as a strategic asset – with quality employment, training, professional development and inclusion strategies needed to best deploy that asset.

The company uses a 70/20/10 learning model – 70% experience, 20% social and 10% education – to upskill its employees and support professional development, with the company reporting that employees spent 3m hours on training in 2024 alone. 

In 2025, the company was named a ‘Top Employer’ in 10 countries, in recognition of its employee value proposition. 

5. Judith Wiese

Company: Siemens

Revenue: US$91.36bn

Location: Munich, Germany

Since becoming Chief People and Sustainability Officer of Siemens in 2020, Judith Wiese has been responsible for managing the company’s talent and sustainability strategies. 

She has done this through the company’s DEGREE framework – standing for Decarbonisation, Ethics, Governance, Resource efficiency, Equity and Employability. 

The framework is designed to help the company evolve its culture and ensure it is inclusive of its global workforce – with Siemens based in 171 countries. 

Under this framework, the company is pursuing pay equity, maintaining a work wellbeing score of at least 80 and increasing average employee learning hours to 40 per year. 
 

4. Nabeel A. Al-Jama’

Company: Aramco

Revenue: US$104.7bn

Location: Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

Nabeel A. Al-Jama’ began his career with Aramco more than 45 years ago in the Home Ownership Division – progressing to Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Vice President for Human Resources before becoming EVP of Human Resources and Corporate Services in 2020. 

The company has said it believes strategic investment in employee experience will help it become more productive and improve business performance, so it has developed initiatives to ensure the work environment is as engaging as possible. 

This includes its ‘How Starts with You’ initiative, which followed on from an employee survey asking employees to share areas the company could improve. 

These were then put into four distinct categories: Enable, providing tools and equipment; Develop, providing training; Care, improving employee wellbeing; and Recognise, acknowledging employee contributions. 14 corporate HR policy enhancements were made as a result of this initiative, leading to an increase in employee engagement and advocacy. 

3. Michelle Green

Company: Chevron

Revenue: US$184.4bn

Location: Texas, US

Michelle Green has been CHRO for Chevron since January 2025, having initially joined the company in 1998. In her role, she is responsible for the company’s efforts to attract world-class talent, and drives learning and development opportunities to support its workforce. 

The company is upskilling employees through a combination of structured technical training programmes, leadership development initiatives and on-the-job learning. 

It offers early career programmes to accelerate the development of new hires, and has also created a ‘Returnship’ programme, which is designed to support professionals re-entering the workforce following a career break. 

2. Kerry Dryburgh

Company: bp

Revenue: US$189.34bn

Location: London, UK

Since her appointment as EVP for People, Culture and Communications and Chief Human Resources and Communications Officer for BP in 2020, Kerry Dryburgh has led bp’s people strategy. 

In her role, she has built an integrated team across several divisions – including talent, diversity and inclusion, health and wellbeing and communications. 

According to the company, these teams are focused on unlocking workforce potential, driving high performance and building up the next generation of talent in the energy sector.

Having worked for bp for more than 15 years, Kerry has led several initiatives to grow and modernise the company’s workforce – including an aim to double its global apprenticeship offering by 2030. 

1. Rachel Solway

Company: Shell

Revenue: US$273.73

Location: London, UK

Rachel Solway first joined Shell as a HR Manager in 1995, and has held HR roles in manufacturing, LPG, lubricants and chemicals across the business before becoming the company’s Chief Human Resources and Corporate Officer in 2024.

The company’s HR strategy hinges on aligning workforce capabilities with business transformation to help drive the energy transformation – focusing on helping staff develop skills that can help the company meet its net-zero goals and creating an inclusive environment to increase female representation in technical roles and help close skills gaps. 

This includes the company’s graduate programme, which allows younger generations of workers to learn by doing through hands-on experience and mentoring to ensure graduates are prepared for leadership roles.