PA Consulting adds senior experts to US and Middle East teams
PA Consulting Group has in recent months added three senior experts to its leadership teams. Bill McAleb joins PA’s energy and utilities team and Robert Wood joins the firm’s aerospace, defence and technology unit – both are based in the US. Cyber security thought leader Lydia Kostopoulos bolsters the firm’s Middle East footprint in the technology and risk landscape.
Bill McAleb has over 35 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. Prior to joining PA, McAleb worked at Black & Veatch, in its management consultancy arm, prior to that he was with RW Beck (now Leidos) and Platts/Standard & Poors, among others. Over the course of his career, he has held senior positions with management consulting firms, interim executive positions related to corporate restructurings, energy development and energy trading, as well as senior positions related to engineering, construction, design, drilling and operations associated with petroleum and hydrocarbon production, storage and utility entities.
McAleb specialises in the provision of business, technical, financial and managerial advisory services to clients operating at the nexus of hydrocarbon fuels, electric generation, hydrocarbon storage enterprises, petroleum midstream and pipelines.
He joins the firm’s Energy and Utilities practice, and will, from the firm’s base in the US, lead initiatives focused on the oil and gas sector. Among the clients PA serves in the oil and gas sector are BP, Shell, Maersk Oil & Gas, WGS (Washington Gas Light), Enbridge, Puget Sound Energy, Exxon Mobil, Pemex, Statoil, to name a few. The British-origin consultancy also works with investment banks, private equity and infrastructure investors that are active in the oil and gas sector.
Ron Norman, Global Head of Energy and Utilities at PA Consulting Group, says: “Bill brings specialised industry knowledge and a new skill set to the team, and we are thrilled that he is here. He has a fundamental understanding of key markets, industry revenue drivers, regulatory and market direction insight that enable him to deliver results for our clients.”
Following his career as an adviser and naval aviator, Robert Wood brings nearly 20 years of experience in the aerospace, defence and technology industries to the consulting firm. Most recently, he served as CEO of ForceMultiplier Group, an advisory firm to the defence industry. Wood has a long track record of engagements in the sector, including working with senior Department of Defense (DoD) customers, the Pentagon/OSD and Capitol Hill stakeholders. In his new role, he will focus on business development, leadership coaching and strategic planning initiatives.
“We are excited Bob is joining our senior leadership team”, comments Tom Mullen, Head of Defence, Aerospace and Security for PA Consulting Group in the US. “We will draw on his range of expert capabilities, further, Bob’s experience as a naval aviator gives him a deep understanding and appreciation of the security challenges our clients face.”
In the Middle East, PA Consulting Group added Lydia Kostopoulos – one of the region’s most influential cyber security experts* – to its team. Kostopoulos is an expert in human behaviour security and is a former assistant professor in intelligence, national security & cyber security at the Institute for International and Civil Security at Khalifa University (based in Abu Dhabi). Prior to that she held a position as a warfare analyst at the Center for Advanced Study in the Social Sciences, in Madrid, Spain. Kostopoulos, who speaks five languages (English, Spanish, Russian, Italian and Greek), holds, among others, a Certificate in Cybersecurity from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government (US) and a PhD in Political Science and Security Studies from the University of Siena (Italy).
Based in PA’s Abu Dhabi hub, Kostopoulos will work with clients across the Middle East in a range of sectors to deliver services such as proactive counter espionage, intellectual property protection and awareness, in the areas of security culture, insider threats and social engineering.
Commenting on the addition, Jason Harborow, Head of PA Consulting Group Middle East and North Africa, says: “Lydia is a significant appointment for the region. There has never been so much emphasis for organisations to implement robust cyber security strategies than now and we believe her skills will deliver outstanding levels of expertise to our clients.”
Earlier this year PA added Magnus Krusberg as a Partner to its Sweden-based office in Stockholm and Ken Allen, formerly a Senior Partner at Big Four giant EY, to its London office.
* Kostopoulos was recently featured in the Middle East Security Awards’ top 100 list of cyber security professionals.
