Our people
We’re a pioneering team of over 2,000 renewable energy professionals
We're based across the UK, Ireland, Continental Europe and Japan, each with a passion for championing clean energy delivery.
Our skilled people are focused entirely on delivering our strategy of tackling climate change head-on.
We're doing this by developing, constructing and operating world-class renewable power assets to lead the transition to a net zero future.
Our experienced leadership team are at the forefront of leading our green action plan to increase SSE’s operational renewable generation capacity from 5GW today to up to 9GW by 2027.
Our leadership team
Stephen Wheeler
Managing Director, SSE Renewables +Stephen Wheeler
Managing Director, SSE RenewablesTogether with our leadership team Stephen is responsible for delivering SSE Renewables’ strategy to drive the transition to a net zero future through the world-class development, construction and operation of renewable energy assets.
Stephen was previously Managing Director of SSE Thermal, focused on decarbonising the company’s flexible generation and energy storage portfolio, as well as Managing Director of SSE Ireland, where he was responsible for driving SSE's leadership position in Ireland in renewable energy development and operations, and in green energy supply.
Before joining SSE, Stephen spent over 10 years working with ABB and Siemens internationally, specialising in the development and construction of thermal generation assets.
Stephen is a graduate of Electrical Engineering at University College Dublin, with an MBA from the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School and is a past Chairman of Wind Energy Ireland (WEI).
Rosalind Futter
Director of Finance +Rosalind Futter
Director of FinanceRosalind is responsible for all aspects of SSE Renewables finance, including financial control, financial reporting, financial planning and analysis and investment decision support, including acquisitions and investments, and project finance.
She is a Chartered Accountant with more than 20 years’ experience across a number of different industries and joined SSE Renewables in December 2023.
Prior to joining SSE, Rosalind spent 12 years in the commercial real estate industry, most recently as Finance Director at urban regeneration specialist Muse Places.
Prior to Muse, Rosalind spent a significant part of her career at Landsec, where she held several roles across both group and divisional finance teams, before finishing her time there as Group Finance Director.
Prior to Landsec, Rosalind held a number of finance positions in different FTSE 100 organisations, including BT Group and Reuters and in audit at Andersens.
Paul Cooley
Director of Offshore +Paul Cooley
Director of OffshorePaul has end-to-end responsibility for the development, construction and operation of our Offshore Wind portfolio.
Previously at SSE he held the positions of Director of Capital Projects and Director of Generation Development with responsibility for the growth of the company’s generation asset portfolios including offshore wind, hydro, solar, storage, energy-from-waste and gas generation.
In September 2023, Paul became Chair of RenewableUK having previously served as a Board member. Prior to joining the energy industry, Paul held senior positions within the Chemicals and Manufacturing industry in the UK, Ireland and internationally at DuPont, Koch Industries and the Quinn Group.
He has an Honours degree in Electrical Engineering from Queens University, Belfast.
Heather Donald
Director of Onshore Wind, Solar and Battery (GB and Ireland) +Heather Donald
Director of Onshore Wind, Solar and Battery (GB and Ireland)Heather Donald has end-to-end responsibility for the development, construction and operation of our Onshore Wind, Solar, Battery portfolio in our home markets Great Britain and Ireland.
Heather joined SSE Renewables in 2018, following nearly two decades in planning and development roles in both the public and private sectors.
Previously at SSE, Heather oversaw the development and construction of our onshore wind portfolio in GB and Ireland, and before that she led on project consenting, including for our major offshore wind developments.
Heather sits on the RenewableUK Strategic Committee sponsoring the Onshore Wind Planning Group and is currently Co-Chair of the G12 Developer Group as part of the Onshore Sector Deal.
She is also a member of the UK Government’s Onshore Wind Industry Taskforce, which was established in July 2024.
Robert Bryce
Director of Hydro +Robert Bryce
Director of HydroRobert leads our team operating our 1.5GW fleet of iconic operational hydroelectric power assets. He is also responsible for developing future hydro and flexible pumped storage opportunities including our proposed Coire Glas pumped storage project.
Previously at SSE Robert was Director of Asset Management for Offshore Wind, responsible for the operation of over 2GW of assets.
Before joining SSE, Robert held various senior roles at Siemens Gamesa, most recently as Head of Onshore Operations for Northern Europe and the Middle East. Before that he worked for a decade in the construction industry.
Trained as a Mechanical Engineer at the University of the West of Scotland, Robert also completed a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with the University of Strathclyde and has attended INSEAD Business School.
Daniel Pearson
Director of New Markets and Business Development +Daniel Pearson
Director of New Markets and Business DevelopmentDan is responsible for leading and supporting our plans to accelerate growth at home and in carefully selected international markets.
This includes leading teams to identify and execute high-quality growth options, from M&A prospects to partnerships, as well as having executive-level responsibility for delivering on our ambitions in new markets, including Japan.
Dan has been with SSE Renewables since 2022 and joined the company from RCG (The Renewables Consulting Group), where he was Director and Chief Strategy Officer.
Dan has gained extensive experience in the industry across two decades with companies such as Enron, GE Wind, GE EFS, and Atlantis Resources/MeyGen.
He has a BSc in Marine Geography from Cardiff University, and an MSc in Offshore Marine Engineering from Strathclyde University.
Jane McArdle
Director of Technical +Jane McArdle
Director of TechnicalJane has responsibility for the engineering standards and processes of our renewable energy projects across all technologies, and acts as Technical and Design Authority.
Previously at SSE, Jane was Director of Engineering for Offshore Wind at SSE Renewables, and before that she held senior roles in SSE’s Thermal business.
Jane has two decades of experience in the energy industry, and before joining SSE in 2008, she worked in a variety of roles including at consultancy firm Mott McDonald and at EirGrid.
She holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from University College Dublin (UCD) where she specialised in Mechanical Engineering.
Stuart Hood
Director of Business Operations and Performance +Stuart Hood
Director of Business Operations and PerformanceStuart has responsibility for ensuring performance across our business is efficient, continuously improving, safe, and compliant – aligning all business areas to deliver on our ambitious goals.
After achieving a degree in Quantity Surveying, Stuart grew his career in construction before joining SSE Renewables over 15 years ago.
In the years since Stuart has built extensive knowledge of the organisation across all of its renewable technologies.
Previously at SSE Stuart has held a number of senior leadership roles across Asset Management, Business Improvement, and Commercial Management.
Stuart also sits on the Board of a number of our joint venture onshore wind farm developments.
Alexandra Malone
Director of Corporate Affairs +Alexandra Malone
Director of Corporate AffairsAlexandra has responsibility for policy development, stakeholder engagement, community and government relations, communications, and brand across all markets in which our business operates.
Previously at SSE she held several senior positions in Corporate Affairs and worked in the company’s Energy Portfolio Management business.
Prior to joining SSE in 2012, Alexandra worked for the Government of Canada focusing on energy and climate policy.
She holds a BSc from McGill University and a Master’s in Resource Management from Dalhousie University.
Gayle Hill
HR Business Partner +Gayle Hill
HR Business PartnerGayle and her team of HR Managers are responsible for people and culture across all of the markets in which we operate.
Gayle joined SSE in 2023 from KCA Deutag, Oil & Gas, where she had held roles including Head of Reward & Resourcing and Head of HR Operations.
Prior to this, Gayle was Director of Business Partnering at ScottishPower, with significant experience supporting Retail and Generation.
She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, with an MSc in Human Resource Management and an LLB Hons Degree from the University of Strathclyde.
Kate Wallace Lockhart
Head of Sustainability and Innovation +Kate Wallace Lockhart
Head of Sustainability and InnovationKate is responsible for the development and implementation of our sustainability strategy, including leading work on biodiversity net gain and the circular economy.
With almost a decade of experience working within SSE’s Sustainability team, Kate played a central role in establishing and building the Group’s sustainability approach.
This included, in her previous role as Head of Social Impact, launching the company’s world-first Just Transition Strategy and co-founding the Powering Net Zero Pact.
Kate's background is in economics, with a keen interest in socio-economic impact and behavioural science.
Kate is Co-Chair of the Living Wage Scotland Leadership Group and sits on the Steering Committees of the Coalition for Wind Industry Circularity and SusWIND.