Gary Milne

Senior strategy, transformation and operations leader with 25+ years of experience in complex international organisations, including Vice President roles in global engineering performance and product leadership. MBA-qualified, with a proven record translating business strategy into cross-functional programmes, aligning priorities and establishing governance to drive implementation and measurable results. Experienced in organisational change, strategic business cases and executive performance reporting, using business intelligence to inform decisions and monitor progress.

Led multidisciplinary teams of 170+ and coordinated performance integration across a 1,700+ engineer matrix, strengthening accountability, organisational alignment and delivery.

Engineering Performance & Sustainability Manager at SLB Onesubsea (2024-01 – 2026-03)

• Selected by executive leadership to lead SPS Engineering Performance & Sustainability integration for a joint venture, aligning performance, planning, and operational priorities.
• Coordinated 8 managers and 3 SMEs across a 1,700+ engineer matrix, establishing common governance, reporting, planning, and PLM frameworks to improve delivery consistency.
• Integrated data from two legacy SAP systems, resolving quality issues and supporting an 8% improvement in on-time engineering release and a 4% improvement in engineering quality.
• Prepared leadership performance reviews through Azure-based Power BI dashboards, improving visibility of delivery, quality, risk, and project controls.
• Guided S&OP resource planning supporting a 15% reduction in headcount in high-cost regions and transition to the Pune High-Value Execution Hub, while mitigating capability risk through a consolidated KPI framework.
• Ran a three-pillar change programme aligned to the five-year business plan, using quarterly global webinars to communicate priorities, progress, and outcomes.

Vice President – Engineering Performance & Technology Partnerships at Aker Solutions (2022-12 – 2023-12)

• Promoted to VP with responsibility for global engineering performance and transformation, aligning PLM operationalisation with business strategy to improve performance and product standardisation.
• Increased product standardisation KPI by 18% over two years to 81%, exceeding the 80% corporate target.
• Guided strategic technology partnerships with NOV, Mocean Energy, HIPtec AS, and others, coordinating legal and commercial stakeholders to advance new technology development.

Senior Manager – Business Transformation at Aker Solutions (2020-01 – 2022-11)

• Oversaw global PLM pilot, implementation, and rollout, establishing governance, organisational change, and business readiness; delivered on time and under budget.
• Applied Agile and Scrum methods to keep complex PLM delivery moving remotely with limited resources.
• Oversaw Product Engineering business and PLM performance, supporting Global Product Owners and Product Managers to strengthen lifecycle and portfolio execution.
• Strengthened commercialisation plans, strategic business cases, and CAPEX proposals, securing investment for product development and improvement.
• Managed the global Y1 Quality Data initiative within budget, reducing recurring NCRs by 30% (3,500), avoiding $0.3M in annual cost, and reducing project delay risk.

Vice President – (PLM) Mechanical Products at Aker Solutions (2019-01 – 2019-12)

• Appointed by the CTO on a temporary assignment in Norway to lead a 45-person global subsea mechanical product portfolio team, aligning product strategy, roadmaps, organisational change, governance, and NPD.
• Reorganised the team to eight direct reports, strengthened career development planning, and advanced early initiatives, including the standardised VXT product platform.
• Presented CAPEX/OPEX budgets 5% below plan while improving operational performance.
• Led a confidential assessment for a strategic partnership, managing IP and performance risks to prevent information disclosure.
• Served as Overall Incident Leader for a Level 1 (Black) HSE investigation, recognised by the HSE Senior Vice President for a best-in-class report.

Product Manager – (VA/VE Global Program) at Aker Solutions (2018-01 – 2018-12)

• Established and oversaw the global Value Analysis / Value Engineering programme for mechanical products, later expanding it across all subsea product lines with integrated governance.
• Presented $42M in validated savings and cost avoidance, approved as a contribution to the wider $100M business target.

Product Manager – XT's & Wellheads at Aker Solutions (2017-02 – 2017-12)

• Directed regional and global product strategy, developed business cases using CRM and market intelligence, and implemented product line enhancements for subsea trees in Asia and wellheads.
• Led a global engineering team across the UK, Malaysia, and Pune to deliver wellhead engineering automation that transformed the engineering process.
• Reduced engineering hours per project by 70% and improved schedule performance by seven weeks through automation, earning the 2017 Main Innovation Award.

Global Product Owner - Wellheads at Aker Solutions (2016-02 – 2017-01)

• Relocated the wellhead execution centre from the UK to Malaysia, applying change management to reduce inventory waste by approximately $1.5M.
• Expanded the business case for a standard wellhead portfolio and launched the first Lean Kaizen event in Port Klang, delivering 15% product cost reduction with two suppliers.

Senior Operations Manager at Aker Solutions (2015-01 – 2016-01)

• Led 8 managers and 170+ employees across engineering, supply chain, and Assembly & Test operations, accountable for safety, quality, cost, schedule, capacity, resources, and customer delivery.
• Integrated cross-functional priorities across engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, project management, and quality to improve value-stream performance and delivery.
• Managed operational readiness for Assembly & Test, ensuring capacity, equipment availability, and maintenance for safe, reliable mobilisation service contracts.
• Oversaw outsourced manufacturing and supplier performance, balancing capacity, cost, quality, and schedule requirements against business and customer priorities.
• Delivered 51 well sets against a target of 31 (+65%) and improved overall operational performance by 15%, exceeding the global performance target.

Operations Leader – Subsea Trees at GE Oil & Gas (2013-01 – 2014-12)

• Managed 10 project managers and functional support teams across international subsea operations.
• Strengthened PMO and QMS governance across international subsea projects, improving on-time delivery, cash collection, and document control.
• Recovered two critical subsea programmes, including a six-month VXT recovery and a two-week Houston XT recovery that avoided $1.5M client loss and major rig-delay exposure.

Senior Project Manager at GE Oil & Gas (2008-01 – 2013-01)

• Directed international subsea programmes covering 70+ XT, CM, and tooling packages, accountable for scope, cost, schedule, quality, risk, and client delivery across engineering, procurement, manufacturing, assembly, and testing.
• Maintained zero safety incidents across all CVX projects as IIF Safety Champion.
• Delivered the first shipment ($60M) to port for Gorgon Jansz Phase 1 on time despite NPD, first-off designs, and multi-operator JV complexity.

Project Manager at GE Oil & Gas (formerly ABB Vetco Gray) (2005-09 – 2007-12)

• Headed the Lobito Tomboco EPC XT package, the business's largest XT contract, improving contribution margin by 4% while delivering a $30M engineering, XT, and tooling package.
• Delivered HPHT modifications within a 14-XT programme on time and under budget through resource planning to optimise schedules and capacity.
• Recovered a major quality issue under severe schedule pressure by establishing a 24-hour supplier recovery operation.

MBA – Robert Gordon University

MSc Management – Robert Gordon University

UG Certificate in Management – Robert Gordon University