Alcoa appoints new chief operations officer

Alcoa Corp., Pittsburgh, has appointed Matt Reed as executive vice president and chief operations officer, effective Jan. 1, 2024.

Reed will be based in Western Australia, and will lead Alcoa’s global operations, including bauxite mines, alumina refineries and aluminum smelters. He will focus on safety, environmental management, productivity, cost management and long-term strategic planning.

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Reed currently is vice president of operations for Australia and serves concurrently as president, Alcoa of Australia. He joined the company in June.

“Matt is a very strong leader who will help us drive a high-performance culture across our assets,” Alcoa President and CEO William F. Oplinger says. “He is guided by integrity and a passion for building capable and motivated teams. He will build on the work he’s already accomplished, driving increased stability while successfully managing a range of complex initiatives.”

Reed has more than 25 years of experience in the resource sector, including mining and minerals processing. Prior to joining Alcoa, he served as the operations executive of OZ Minerals, leading assets and projects in Australia and Brazil. Prior to OZ Minerals, Reed was the executive managing director of Simec Mining, where he had multisite responsibility for commodity exploration, development and operations in addition to business development and marketing.

In addition, Oplinger, who was appointed president and CEO in September of this year, has maintained the responsibilities associated with his prior role as chief operations officer. Oplinger will continue with those responsibilities until Reed’s appointment Jan. 1. Meanwhile, Reed will continue as vice president of operations, Australia, and president, Alcoa of Australia, until Jan. 31, at which point an interim vice president for Australia will be appointed. A permanent vice president of operations for Australia will be named after a competitive search process.