Baker Hughes legal chief takes compliance role at Wood Group

Elaine Mays, who has worked at Baker Hughes since 2007, will take on a newly created role as chief compliance officer at the Wood Group, effective from 24 July.

Mays began her in-house career 10 years ago when she became a senior legal adviser at Technip Offshore and later worked as senior legal counsel at Vetco Gray. Since she began working at Baker Hughes she has overseen the company’s legal operations in Europe, Africa, Russia and the Caspian Sea region.

Throughout her in-house career Mays has dedicated a considerable amount of time to ethics and compliance issues, and, as she told The Lawyer, this is what gave her a taste for this area. “I was ready for a new challenge and after working in ethics and compliance for the past six or seven years, this really wetted my appetite for this area,” she said.

The move will see Aberdeen-born Mays relocate from London to the Wood Group’s office in Aberdeen. She will report to general counsel Robbie Brown, who joined the company in October 2010 from Maclay Murray & Spens (4 October 2010). The Wood Group has around 40,000 employees spanning 50 countries worldwide.

Wole Onabolu, who is currently a Baker Hughes legal and compliance counsel in Sub-Saharan Africa, is set to be Mays’ replacement. Nigerian-born Onabolu will relocate from Cape Town to London to take up the role.