Stuart Payne was appointed 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 National Advisory Board for Barnardo’s Scotland, a non-executive director of the Energy Transition Zone Ltd and former Chair of the Brightside Trust, a national youth mentoring charity.

Stuart holds a degree in psychology, is a Fellow of the CIPD and of the Energy Institute, 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.