Trudi Charles

Trudi joined Rio Tinto in August 2026 and brings more than 2 decades of international legal and leadership experience. With a global career directly relevant to Rio Tinto's markets, she brings deep expertise in managing complex legal and governance matters and extractive industry commercial insight.

She is admitted to practise law in England & Wales, Hong Kong and Queensland, Australia. Prior to joining Rio Tinto, she held a range of senior leadership roles with bp, including most recently as Deputy General Counsel and Senior Vice President Legal, Supply, Trading & Shipping, and began her legal career with Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer in London and Hong Kong.

Trudi believes trust and transparency are the foundation of high-performing organisations and is passionate about creating a culture that is values-led, collaborative and performance-focused.

Select skills and competencies

• Deep international legal expertise across multiple common law jurisdictions, underpinned by a career spanning elite private practice and senior in-house leadership in highly regulated global extractive industries.
• Proven capability in legal risk management, corporate governance and compliance, with a track record of building values-led functions that support high-performing, accountable organisations.
• Extensive experience counsel­ling executive committees and boards on legal strategy and governance frameworks across complex, multi-jurisdictional environments.