Standard Life has announced the appointment of Stephen Lochhead to the role of Global Talent and Organisational Development Director.

Lochhead will lead on the development of the talent strategy across the company and ensure Standard Life has the appropriate senior leadership and talent pipeline in place to deliver a sustainable business.

The role encompasses talent, organisational development, senior leadership and executive development, diversity and inclusion, along with succession management. It also holds responsibility for the company wide framework, policies and principles for Talent and Organisational Development.

Commenting on the appointment, Sandy Begbie, Chief People Officer, said: “We place a great deal of importance on Talent which is critical to the future growth and success of our business and the appointment of Stephen into this newly created role reflects that. This is a new global role that will ensure a single strategic direction for Standard Life.

“Stephen brings a wealth of international experience from a number of complex, sizeable companies across multiple cultures in Europe, North America and Asia. Stephen’s knowledge of operating in global businesses and of how to operate within a matrix structure will help us focus and align ourselves to deliver our hugely important talent and organisational development agenda. I look forward to working with him when he joins us in June.”

Stephen Lochhead said: “I’m thrilled to be joining Standard Life – it’s a company that I have admired for a long time. Ultimately we have a business whose performance rests on the strength of our human capital and there are plenty of exciting challenges and growth opportunities ahead of us. I’m delighted to join Sandy’s People Leadership Team.”

Lochhead joins Standard Life on 1 June 2016 from Unilever where he worked as Vice President of Talent and Resourcing – a global role in which he defined the overall talent management strategy for this FTSE 100 business. He previously worked at Astra Zeneca and HBOS.

When time permits, he is a passionate snowboarder and landscape photography of his native land -Scotland.