London, United Kingdom, May 2026 – BMI Group has announced the appointment of Simon Smith as its new Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) and member of the Executive Leadership Team.
The appointment comes as BMI Group continues to strengthen its people strategy and organizational capabilities across its global operations. With nearly three decades of HR leadership experience across industrial, manufacturing, automotive, engineering, and transformation-driven organizations, Simon Smith brings deep expertise in organizational effectiveness, workforce transformation, leadership development, and culture building.
At BMI Group, Simon will lead the company’s global people agenda, with a focus on strengthening a high-performance and engagement-led culture aligned with the organization’s long-term growth ambitions.
Career Journey
Before joining BMI Group, Simon served as Chief People Officer at Aston Martin Lagonda, where he led the people strategy for the globally recognized ultra-luxury automotive company. In this role, he partnered closely with the Board and executive leadership team on organization redesign, talent pipeline development, culture transformation, employee engagement, and leadership capability building across the business.
During his tenure at Aston Martin, Simon also led initiatives focused on embedding a high-performance culture, driving ED&I transformation, improving organizational effectiveness, and implementing AI-enabled process improvements to strengthen operational efficiency and employee experience.
Earlier, Simon held leadership assignments with Johnson Matthey, including People and Change Director – Clean Air Operations and HR Director – EMEA, Clean Air, where he led complex transformation programs across Europe, the USA, Mexico, India, China, Japan, South Africa, and other regions. He played a key role in organizational redesign, operational transformation, productivity improvement, and leadership capability development across global operations.
Prior to that, he spent over eight years with Rolls-Royce Holdings plc in several HR Director and executive business partner positions. During this period, he contributed to major operational transformation initiatives, workforce restructuring, union negotiations, global manufacturing expansion, productivity enhancement programs, and large-scale talent development initiatives supporting significant business growth.
Simon also held global HR leadership responsibilities at Alstom, where he managed HR operations for manufacturing facilities across the USA, Europe, India, China, and Indonesia. His work included acquisition integration, workforce transformation, technology transfer initiatives, organizational restructuring, and leadership development across international operations.
Earlier in his career, he built foundational HR leadership experience with Peugeot UK across multiple generalist HR and leadership development assignments.
In addition to his executive HR roles, Simon has also served in governance and advisory capacities including as a Board Member with Gartner CHRO’s Client Advisory Board and as a Non-Executive Director with educational institutions and advisory organizations.
About BMI Group
BMI Group is one of Europe’s largest manufacturers and suppliers of flat and pitched roofing systems, bringing together several trusted roofing brands under one global platform. With over 280 years of combined experience and innovation, the company serves homeowners, contractors, developers, and commercial customers across Europe, Africa, and Asia.
As part of Standard Industries, BMI Group operates more than 110 production facilities globally and employs over 8,500 people worldwide, delivering integrated roofing expertise and sustainable building solutions across international markets.
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