Jean-Sébastien Jacques

CEO, Rio Tinto plc Business Circle

Appointment: March 2016 (board), July 2016 (chief executive)。

Committee membership: Chairman's Committee

Skills and experience: Jean-Sébastien, a British citizen, has strong executive leadership skills and expertise in leading significant growth projects. He is also highly respected for his thought leadership across a wide range of geopolitical and economic issues within the mining industry and more broadly.

Jean-Sébastien was appointed chief executive officer of Rio Tinto’s Copper group in 2013 and chief executive of the Copper & Coal group in February 2015. He led the transformation of this group, delivering a step-change in both safety and cash performance while reshaping the portfolio to focus on a core of the highest-quality assets. He also had responsibility for two growth projects, Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia and Resolution in the US, both of which saw significant progress during his tenure. Prior to joining Rio Tinto, Jean-Sébastien spent more than 15 years working in various roles across Europe, South East Asia, India and the US. He covered a wide range of operational and functional positions for the aluminium, bauxite and steel industries and notably served as group director, Strategy, for Tata Steel Group from 2007 to 2011.

External appointments (current and recent): Chairman of the International Copper Association since late 2014.