Rob Sherwin, VP Corporate Relations - Europe & Sub-Saharan Africa, Shell

Rob Sherwin is VP Corporate Relations for Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa at Shell. Based in Shell’s HQ in London he leads a team of corporate affairs professionals across more than 30 countries, responsible for government relations, policy advocacy, internal and external communications, and social performance. Rob also oversees the ‘Country Chair’ responsibilities of all the top business leaders for Shell across Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa, building trust with national stakeholders and audiences, and managing reputation risk.

Rob began his career at Shell, working in natural gas commercial, marketing and strategy roles, before focusing on Middle East new business development and government relations. In 2006, he left Shell to join The Foreign & Commonwealth Office as the first Middle East Energy Adviser to the UK government, working across Whitehall and with Middle East governments and National Oil Companies on the twin challenges of energy security and climate change. Rob then spent 5 years building and leading the Middle East and Africa practice of the energy sector management consultancy Regester Larkin, based in Abu Dhabi, working with both private and state-owned energy companies, and complex joint ventures between the two.

In 2012 Rob returned to Shell as General Manager Corporate Affairs and Deputy Country Chairman for Qatar Shell, at that time Shell’s most valuable single operating entity. In 2016, after more than a decade in the Arabian Gulf, he moved to Shell HQ in The Netherlands to lead a team providing external relations support to all upstream oil and gas deals and transactions during a period in which Shell delivered on a 3-year commitment to divest $30 billion of assets. Prior to his current role, Rob was Shell’s VP Global Media Relations, managing the company’s press offices and editorial writers around the world, and serving as principal communications adviser to the CEO and CFO.

Rob has a First Class degree in Commerce from the University of Birmingham. He is married, with two children.