Ruth Cairnie

Executive Vice President, Strategy and Planning
Shell International BV

Ruth was appointed VP for Group Strategy in April 2011 and EVP for Strategy and Planning in September 2011. She is responsible for development of global Group strategy covering all Shell. This includes understanding the external business environment, both long term (Shell scenarios) and shorter term; development of long-term strategic options addressing developments in technology, environmental challenges and the shifting world economic footprint; and translation into business plans and appraisal.

Previously, Ruth was responsible for Shell’s global Commercial Fuels business from 2005 - 2010. This involved  sales of fuel to business customers in over 60 countries, representing a third of Shell’s total global marketing sales volumes.
During her career in Shell, Ruth has worked in a wide range of areas including Research, Oil Markets analysis, various B2B businesses, Strategy, Supply Chain and M&A. Currently based in the Netherlands, she has mainly been based in London but has also lived in Stockholm, Hamburg and Singapore.

Ruth graduated in Joint Honours Mathematics & Physics from Bristol University and then did research into Cosmology and Black Holes at Cambridge University, taking a Masters in Advanced Studies. She took the Corporate Finance programme at London Business School in 2003. She is a Non-Executive Director of Keller Group plc, the leading global ground engineering specialist, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Rotterdam School of Management.