Board of Directors and Leadership Team

Stuart Payne was appointed as Chief Executive of the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) in January 2023, and has been part of the organisation since its creation in 2015 most recently as Director for Supply Chain, Decommissioning & HR.

Prior to joining the NSTA, Stuart held senior positions in industry including as Group HR Director for Dana Petroleum based in Aberdeen and Vice President of HR for Shell based in Houston, Texas.

Stuart is the Chair of the Brightside Trust, a national youth mentoring charity and also chairs the National Advisory Board of Barnardo’s Scotland.

In February 2023, Stuart was appointed as a non-executive director of Energy Transition Zone Ltd, a not-for-profit company created to establish the north east of Scotland as a global leader in energy transition activities.

Stuart holds a degree in psychology, is a Fellow of the Energy Institute and of the CIPD, an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society and was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2020. Married with two children, Stuart lives in Aberdeenshire.

Iain Lanaghan is a Chartered Accountant who holds an MA in Economics and Accounting from the University of Edinburgh. He is currently a non-executive director of Scottish Water and the UK Government’s Defence Equipment & Support agency (DE&S).

Following an early career in audit and consultancy, he undertook senior finance roles in a number of FTSE companies including serving as Group Finance Director for FirstGroup PLC and as CFO of PowerGen International. He was also CFO at Faroe Petroleum PLC. Iain’s NED and advisory experience is extensive, and includes a range of companies involved in the energy sector (Cabot Energy PLC, CO2DeepStore and Blaze Manufacturing Solutions).

Nic joined the NSTA from the Falkland Islands Government, where her previous role was Strategic Executive Director & Deputy Chief Executive, which included responsibility for Finance as well as a number of other corporate and policy functions. Previously she worked as a chartered accountant in both the private and public sectors.

Fiona took up her appointment as Director, Energy Development and Resilience in November 2021 as part of a jobshare partnership with Vicky Dawe.  They have responsibility for Oil and Gas Exploration and Production, Energy Infrastructure Consenting, Cyber Security, Energy Resilience and Coal Liabilities.  Their role includes sponsorship of the North Sea Transition Authority Authority and the Coal Authority and being the Shareholder Director on the North Sea Transition Authority Board.  Prior to that, Fiona led DESNZ’s Renewable Strategy Team with responsibility for delivery HMG’s ambitions in relation to offshore wind deployment and manufacturing infrastructure.   

Prior to that role Fiona had a career break to look after young children whilst also living in Canada and Germany. 

Earlier in Fiona’s career she developed and delivered the Renewable Heat Incentive and led Defra’s Radioactive Waste Policy.  Before that she worked on a range of environmental policy issues within Defra, HMT, and the European Commission.  She also worked on secondment to set up the South Downs National Park Authority – a special purpose Local Authority.  Fiona’s academic background is in marine and environmental biology with French.  She also holds a Masters degree in environmental law and management.   

A former Senior Executive at BG Group, Malcolm is currently a Crown Representative at the Cabinet Office in the Strategic Partnering Programme. He brings 40 years’ experience in oil and gas markets, culminating in his role as Executive Vice President, Exploration, BG, until 2016. He was an advisor to Westwood Energy until August 2021.

He is a Trustee of the Imperial College Trust, and Chair of the Development Committee of the Geological Society. He was President of the Geological Society of London from 2016-2018.

Stuart Payne was appointed as Chief Executive of the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) in January 2023, and has been part of the organisation since its creation in 2015 most recently as Director for Supply Chain, Decommissioning & HR.

Prior to joining the NSTA, Stuart held senior positions in industry including as Group HR Director for Dana Petroleum based in Aberdeen and Vice President of HR for Shell based in Houston, Texas.

Stuart is the Chair of the Brightside Trust, a national youth mentoring charity and also chairs the National Advisory Board of Barnardo’s Scotland.

In February 2023, Stuart was appointed as a non-executive director of Energy Transition Zone Ltd, a not-for-profit company created to establish the north east of Scotland as a global leader in energy transition activities.

Stuart holds a degree in psychology, is a Fellow of the Energy Institute and of the CIPD, an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society and was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2020. Married with two children, Stuart lives in Aberdeenshire.

Hedvig Ljungerud is responsible for the NSTA’s policy, performance, economics and communication and external affairs teams. She joined the NSTA in June 2015 from HM Revenue and Customs, having held a series of senior policy and strategy roles in government.

Nic joined the NSTA from the Falkland Islands Government, where her previous role was Strategic Executive Director & Deputy Chief Executive, which included responsibility for Finance as well as a number of other corporate and policy functions. Previously she worked as a chartered accountant in both the private and public sectors.

Pauline Innes joined the NSTA in 2019 as Head of Decommissioning, leading the work to ensure decommissioning is carried out in a manner that is cost effective and supports the country’s net-zero target. She has a background in the public sector, working for the Scottish Government in social and economic policy before joining BEIS in 2015 to work in decommissioning.

Jane joined the NSTA as the Head of Disputes and Sanctions in 2020.  Prior to this Jane was a senior prosecutor and Head of Division at the Serious Fraud Office.  Jane is a lawyer with a background in commercial litigation and dispute resolution.