Board of Directors and Leadership Team

Appointed: October 2024

Liz has more than 35 years’ experience as a public sector leader in Whitehall and Edinburgh.  Her last executive role was as Director General for Economy for the Scottish Government, leading on all aspects of the economy and the drive to net zero in Scotland and with oversight of numerous arm-length bodies including Scottish regulators.  The first part of Liz’s career was in international development, with 20 years at the UK Department for International Development including senior roles in policy and finance.

Liz is an experienced chair and non-executive director. She chaired the shadow Board for the Scottish National Investment Bank prior to formal launch, as well as the Scottish Government Economy Board.  Liz left the civil service at the beginning of 2022 to develop her portfolio of non-executive and advisory roles.  She is Chair of the North Sea Transition Authority, a Commissioner with the UK Independent Commission for Aid Impact, a NED with the Net Zero Technology Centre and co-Chairs the David Hume Institute.    Liz is passionate about the possibility of positive change; making a difference to countries, societies, businesses and organisations is what motivates her. All of her working life has been about integrating economic, social and environmental change to secure better outcomes for people, place and planet

Russell is an experienced competition and regulatory lawyer who has managed various dispute resolutions and multi-discipline litigation before the UK, EU and Grand Cayman courts. Previously, he was General Counsel and Deputy Director Industry Affairs for the Information and Communications Technology Authority in the Cayman Islands. Prior to that, he was a Principal Lawyer at the UK Office of Communications.

Appointed: July 2022

Vicky Dawe is Director of Energy Development and Resilience at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, in a jobshare with Fiona Mettam. She joined the UK civil service in 2003 after moving from Australia, where she studied Arts and Science degrees at Monash University and worked in the private and higher education sectors. Vicky’s UK government career has focused on energy and environmental policy and reform across several government departments, including home energy efficiency, the creation of Natural England, water pollution and flooding, reforming arms-length bodies, and the Electricity Market Reform Programme. Prior to her current role she was responsible for the delivery of the UK’s £8bn/year renewable electricity generation support schemes.  

To be appointed: 1 May 2026

Rebecca has extensive international leadership, cross-functional and technical experience working for over 30 years for BP.  Her roles included Managing Director for BP Norway, where she led all aspects of BP’s Norway business including operations and capital-intensive projects and, as Head of Upstream Technology, she was accountable for the development and execution of solutions to improve efficiency and safety in operations and support the energy transition. 

Rebecca is a practising Non-Executive Board member for Tullow Oil and previously for SES Water.

Rebecca has an authentic and collaborative leadership style and enjoys sense-making in complex and ambiguous situations to create clarity and direction.  She is passionate about contributing to the development and delivery of a North Sea Energy transition strategy.  

Rebecca holds a B.Sc. (Hons) in Geochemistry and is a Fellow of The British Geological Society.  She is married with one daughter.

Appointed: 7 April 2026

Ian is an experienced corporate treasurer and non-executive director. He is currently a Non-Executive Director and Audit Committee Chair of the Sanctuary Group, one of the UK’s largest housing associations; a Trustee Director for the Shell UK Pension Fund; a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Finance Committee for the British Geological Survey; and was previously Audit Committee Chair for Homerton College, Cambridge. 

Ian's executive career was primarily in natural resources, at Shell in a variety of finance and treasury roles, including Treasurer of the Gas & Power business, and at BHP as Vice President Corporate Finance. Most recently Ian was Group Treasurer at Grosvenor, the international property company.

Ian has a MA in Earth Sciences from Cambridge University, is a Chartered Management Accountant, and is a Fellow and Past President of the Association of Corporate Treasurers.

To be appointed: 1 May 2026

Mitch Flegg has over 40 years of experience in North Sea oil & gas operations, starting as an engineer working offshore in the service sector leading to managerial roles with Schlumberger, Enterprise Oil and Shell. Most recently he was the Chief Executive Officer of Serica Energy, one of the ten largest UK oil and gas producers.

He is also a former board member of Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) where he had particular responsibility for the interests of smaller independent operating companies.

Russell is an experienced competition and regulatory lawyer who has managed various dispute resolutions and multi-discipline litigation before the UK, EU and Grand Cayman courts. Previously, he was General Counsel and Deputy Director Industry Affairs for the Information and Communications Technology Authority in the Cayman Islands. Prior to that, he was a Principal Lawyer at the UK Office of Communications.

Appointed: January 2023, Suzanne Lilley is responsible for the Human Resources function. She has been part of the NSTA since its inception in 2015 having previously held a variety of HR roles within the civil service.