About

Taking up his role in December 2013, Perth-based Randal Barker is the General Counsel of BHP Billiton’s Iron Ore business which is part of the BHP Billiton group headquartered in Melbourne. Barker also serves as a member of the Legal Executive Committee, dating from September 2011 when he first joined BHP Billiton, as well as the Iron Ore Executive Committee demonstrating a close relationship with senior management. Barker came to the Iron Ore part of the business after a stint as BHP Billiton’s senior executive in Europe as head of the London office. There he had responsibility for legal teams supporting the non-Australian mining businesses and for the specialist competition and anti-corruption lawyers. These experiences prove his versatility and strong knowledge of several aspects of one the world’s largest mining companies. Barker has influenced the strategic direction of the Iron Ore Business most notably through overwhelming efforts to improve the workings of the Legal function. ‘At its core’ he says, ‘the Legal function is responsible for managing BHP Billiton’s legal risks, taking into account the Company’s Charter Values and commercial objectives through the provision of independent legal advice.’ Barker has overseen a thoughtful, methodical and detailed approach dedicated to improving team performance ensuring the Legal function’s mandate can be achieved. These efforts included identifying five ‘Core Aspirations’, assembling an Analysis and Improvement team involving non-lawyers to advise on process management and spelling out a People Plan promoting a ‘high performance culture’ within a ‘more connected’ team. Stating that ‘client feedback has been very positive to date’, Barker is already seeing positive results from his efforts, validating his approach in striving for ‘continuous improvement’ and emphasizing ‘overall quality and effectiveness’ of the function’s legal work.