Rolls-Royce has lined up Maria Varsellona as its next chief legal officer, replacing Mark Gregory, who is departing next month. Maria Varsellona is joining from Unilever where she is also CLO. She will join Rolls-Royce as its top lawyer on March 1, 2026.
Varsellona has been at Unilever for just under four years, having previously been general counsel at engineering giant ABB in Switzerland. Prior to that, she spent more than six years at Nokia, latterly as president of Nokia Technologies in addition to her CLO role. Earlier in her career, she had GC roles at packaging businesses Tetra Pak and Sidel, as well senior counsel roles at GE Oil & Gas and Hertz.
Mark Gregory is departing after a more than 20-year career at the jet-engine maker, including more than a decade as general counsel. He originally joined Rolls Royce?s financing arm in 2005 as legal counsel after six years at Hogan Lovells. Gregory will remain on until the end of March to support the transition.
