John Slaven is Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer for Alcoa, responsible for the daily operations of the Company’s global bauxite, alumina and aluminum assets. Alcoa has the largest bauxite mining portfolio in the world and is the world’s largest alumina producer. John also focuses on Alcoa’s global aluminum smelting system, its network of casthouses, U.S. rolling mill, and the Corporation’s substantial energy assets. Alcoa Corporation operates in 10 countries. John is also a member of the Alcoa Executive Team, which sets strategic direction for the Corporation.
Most recently, John served as Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, a position he assumed in February 2019 when he joined Alcoa. In this role, he was accountable for the Strategy, Corporate and Business Development functions and Supply Chain group as well as Energy Development.
John has extensive experience in the metals and mining business, including global experience in several commodities and industry sectors across the aluminum value chain.
Prior to joining Alcoa, he served for 13 years as Partner and Managing Director at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In his last assignment, he led BCG’s practices for North American Metals and Mining and Infrastructure and Public Transport. Prior to BCG, John worked for 9 years at BHP Billiton, where he held senior strategy and business development roles in both Perth, Australia, and Singapore in the Iron Ore, Minerals Exploration, and Aluminum, Manganese and Nickel business units.
From 2002 through 2006, John worked for Alcoa Inc., where he implemented its Asia growth strategy and the turnaround of its Latin America business. He also led Alcoa Inc.’s sales and marketing growth in Asia before returning to New York to lead the corporate strategy, and financial planning and analysis functions.
Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, John served as a Sub-Lieutenant, Officer in Charge in the South African Navy. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cape Town.