BHP’s transformation boss to leave as part of internal overhaul

BHP (ASX, LON, NYSE: BHP) said Friday that its chief transformation officer, Jonathan Price, would leave next year, as part of an ongoing internal shake-up ahead of Mike Henry’s ascension to the top job at the miner, the world’s largest.

Price was appointed to the position 18 months ago by outgoing chief executive officer, Andrew Mackenzie. He joined the BHP’s executive leadership team early this year.

The announcement of his departure after 14 years at BHP surprised the market. He was seen by some as a future chief financial officer or even CEO candidate.

“We created the Transformation Office to accelerate change at BHP and bring focus to our activity and our processes on value creation,” Mackenzie said in the statement. “The foundation of this mindset is now in place.”

Price is the second major exit announced this week and is part of BHP’s new strategy to shift certain responsibilities away from the executive leadership team. On Monday, the company announced that its chief technology officer, Diane Jurgens, would leave early next year.

The Transformation Office laid the foundations for BHP to accelerate performance through better safety, lower costs, greater reliability and higher returns, it said.

Price will oversee the transition of the transformation programs over the first half of 2020, after which he will move back to the United Kingdom with his family, BHP said.