Shell Plc said on March 1 that Jessica Uhl, who has served as CFO for the last five years, will resign and has named Sinead Gorman as her successor.

“The board is immensely grateful to Jessica for her tremendous contribution to the company over many years, but particularly as CFO and especially during the past two years as we successfully tackled the many challenges presented by the pandemic,” Sir Andrew Mackenzie, Shell’s chair, commented in a company release.

Shell Sinead Gorman headshot
Sinead Gorman

In January, Shell ditched “Royal Dutch” from its name after moving its headquarters to Britain from the Netherlands. Uhl, a U.S. citizen and “a key architect” of Shell’s recent strategic changes, is leaving the group due to family reasons and because a long-term relocation to the U.K. is not possible, Shell said according to a Reuters report.

In the company release, Uhl commented: “It has been an immense privilege to contribute to Shell’s leadership as we sought to reposition Shell for the future. Our forward thinking on the energy transition and firm commitment to reflect our principles and values in all we do made each day meaningful. I look forward to seeing what Shell achieves, knowing that the company is in very good hands.”

Uhl will step down as CFO on March 31 but will be available to assist Gorman and the board with transition until June 30, after which she will leave the group. In total, Uhl spent 17 years at Shell holding various senior roles in the upstream, integrated gas and downstream businesses in the U.S., U.K. and the Netherlands. 

Gorman, a British national who is currently the executive vice-president, finance, in Shell’s global upstream business, will assume the CFO role on April 1 and will be based in London.

She started her career as a civil engineer before embarking on a finance career when she joined Shell in 1999. Since then, she has held several increasingly senior finance roles in all Shell’s major businesses, in Europe, North America and latterly globally.

“I am delighted to welcome Sinead to the leadership of our company,” Mackenzie added in the release. “She combines broad finance, trading, new business development and capital projects experience with a deep knowledge of Shell, and a strong commercial and external focus.”

Reuters contributed to this report.