Noel Pillay is a trained mechanical engineer with a National Higher Diploma from the University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
Mr Pillay joined BHP in 1994 as a maintenance engineer at Hillside Aluminium and has held several leadership roles in maintenance, production, business improvement and human resources in South Africa & Australia. He was also the vice president of operations at Hillside before joining Worsley Alumina in August 2018 as vice president of operations where he was accountable for the operation’s safety, production and cost performance. In September 2021, Mr Pillay was appointed chief operating officer of South32's operations in South Africa and will be returning to South Africa from Western Australia.