Our Leadership

David Waterfield was appointed to the role of President and CEO of Reynolds American Inc. (Reynolds) on July 1, 2023. In this role, Waterfield leads the BAT Group's U.S. market and serves on BAT's Management Board.

Throughout David's 25-year career with the BAT Group, he has held senior roles across the globe, most recently as Area Director, Western Europe and General Manager, UK and Ireland during which he built the third largest New Category business in BAT, gaining leadership in Modern Oral in all Western European markets.
David’s experience spans several leadership positions within BAT, including Group Head of Combustibles, Regional Head of Marketing, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Area Director, Southeast Europe & General Manager, Romania.

As the largest market in the BAT Group, Reynolds plays a critical role in delivering on the Group's A Better Tomorrow™ purpose. Waterfield is an avid supporter of talent development, with a focus on building teams to lead the Group’s transformation and commercial success.

Vincent Duhem was appointed to the role of Executive Vice President, Marketing and Chief Commercial Officer within the Reynolds American group on November 1, 2024. In his role, he is responsible for leading U.S. marketing functions, including field trade, consumer, and digital marketing, and supporting the deployment of the U.S. Way Forward strategic plan.

Duhem has more than 28 years of experience, primarily in commercial and marketing roles in Europe and the U.S. and joined the BAT Group in 2012. Prior to assuming his current role, he served as Global Head of Combustibles for the BAT Group, leading portfolio transformation initiatives and driving progress on the Productivity and Simplification journey.

He also held a variety of senior brand and consumer marketing leadership positions within the global BAT Group in the Netherlands, France, UK, and in the AmSSA, and ENA regions including leading Lucky Strike, Pall Mall, and New Category deployment and acceleration agendas. His leadership with the BAT Group has been fundamental in developing and implementing strategic brand portfolios within key markets.

Leonardo Senra became the Executive Vice President, Finance, within the Reynolds American group in March 2024.

Senra’s career with the BAT Group spans nearly three decades, and prior to assuming his current role, he held several Leadership Roles at BAT, including Regional Head of Finance - Europe and Regional Finance Director - Americas and Sub-Saharan Africa. From 2017 -2020 he was the CEO and General Manager for Mexico & Central America.

Within the BAT Group, he has significantly contributed to shaping the leadership agenda for the Americas and Europe and accelerated the transformation of New Categories across the region while driving the delivery of strong commercial and financial performances. He has been an active member of BAT’s Regional and Finance Leadership teams, helping to build future-fit capabilities for the business, together with a relentless focus on developing and growing internal talent.

Bernd Meyer became Executive Vice President – Operations within the Reynolds American group on January 1, 2021, and he has more than 25 years of experience in the BAT Group.

Prior to assuming his current role, he served as BAT Group’s Operations Manager - Europe and North Africa (ENA), significantly improving factory performance and KPI’s in the ENA factories and prior to that he served as Regional Operations Manager Western Europe.

As Operations Director-Ukraine he led a factory reconstruction and organizational design review and as Area Operations Director - Southern Africa, Bernd led a major cultural change within the Heidelberg factory Operations team, combined with a new to market fit for purpose Secondary Supply Chain design. Bernd also served as Global Head of Supply Chain, Operations Director – Germany, and Head of Western Europe Manufacturing.

Bernd is a key member of the Global Operations leadership team and makes significant contributions on shaping the global operations strategy.

Tim Nestor became Executive Vice President, Scientific Research and Development within the Reynolds American group in March of 2024. In his role, he oversees the Reynolds American organization’s scientific research and product development efforts on Tobacco Harm Reduction and Beyond Nicotine as well as regulatory strategies and advocacy efforts, accelerating the delivery of the global BAT Group’s A Better Tomorrow™ corporate purpose in the U.S.

During his more than 30-year career with the Reynolds American organization, Tim has held a range of leadership roles in both traditional and new categories. Tim led the development of VUSE Solo and was the product lead for the organization’s first vapor product launched in the US. Tim has innovated and commercialized products across all product categories and is an inventor of more than 50 patents. Most recently, Tim was the Global Head of Combustible Product Transformation for the global BAT Group, leading the transformation and regulatory readiness of the combustibles business.

Tim received his B.S. in Physics from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. He is active in the community serving on the Board of Directors for SECU Family House and the National Sports Media Association.

Jeff Raborn is Executive Vice President of Law and External Affairs and General Counsel of Reynolds American Inc.

Before assuming his current role in 2018, Raborn was Senior Vice President, Litigation and Regulatory, and Deputy General Counsel within the RAI Group. He has been part of the law leadership team since 2008, when he was named Vice President, Litigation, and Assistant General Counsel at RJRT, working with smoking and health litigation. He also previously served as the chairman of the Reynolds American Foundation.

Prior to joining Reynolds, Raborn practiced law in New Orleans and Baton Rouge and represented clients including Ford, Hyundai, Toyota, Kia, Black & Decker, Exxon, and Shell in product and premises liability cases. He also represented several companies including Exxon, Texaco, Shell, and Chevron before the Louisiana Public Service Commission. His trial career included important wins for his clients at both the trial and appellate levels. He credits much of his success in the corporate world to his experience as a trial lawyer - understanding your audience and knowing what moves them is vital, no matter the setting – whether a jury, a CEO, or a board of directors.

A native of Amite, La., Raborn earned a bachelor’s degree in history and a juris doctorate degree from Louisiana State University. He is active in the community serving as mentor and coach to hundreds of local youth as well as serving on the boards of a number of non-profit charitable organizations and, most recently, served as chairman of the Reynolds American Foundation. He is or has been a member of the American, Federal, and Louisiana Bar Associations, the Defense Research Institute, and The Conference Board.

Borgia Walker was appointed to the role of Senior Vice President, Human Resources (HR) at Reynolds American Inc. on December 1, 2023. In this role, Borgia leads the Reynolds American companies’ overall human resources strategy, talent acquisition, leadership development, diversity and inclusion, organizational design, and cultural development as well as employee education and development, compensation and benefits, HR operations and employee relations.

Prior to assuming her current role, she served as Vice President, Strategic Projects, where she was responsible for leading transformational projects for Reynolds on the journey to empower the organization to build a Better Tomorrow™.

Borgia’s career is an example of a successful cross-functional journey. Based on her breadth of functional experiences, she has effectively led several key transformation projects, defining new ways of working and driving change with passion and energy.

Borgia joined Brown and Williamson in 1995 and held roles in Finance, Internal Audit, and Regulatory Oversight before joining the HR function in 2015 as a Business Partner. Her accomplished career in HR includes serving as Senior Director, Health and Wellness, where she implemented a new health plan, Vice President, Org Effectiveness and Services, where she was responsible for OE, the HR Service team, and Payroll, and Vice President, HR Services and Integration, where she expanded her responsibilities to lead the global integration of the U.S. HR framework.

She earned her BS in Business Administration from the University of Louisville and her MBA in Finance from Webster University. Borgia is active in the local community and has served on the Board of Directors for Allegacy Federal Credit Union, the YWCA, the Winston-Salem Symphony, and Horizons Residential Care Center.

Aaron Gwinner is the Senior Vice President of Information and Digital Technology (IDT) within the RAI Group.

Prior to joining the Group, Gwinner was the Global Leader of IT Transformation and Capabilities with The Coca-Cola Company. With more than 26 years in the IT industry, he led several global efforts and dynamic teams, such as the CIO for Marketing, Digital and Public Affairs; CIO Eurasia, North Asia and Middle East (based in Moscow, Russia); and as CIO Global Customers.

A native of Atlanta, Ga., Gwinner holds a master’s degree in business administration from J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University, bachelor of science degree in Information Systems from Michael J. Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State University and received his Global Business Management Certificate from the European Union. Gwinner also served with distinction in the U.S. Army and is a Gulf War Veteran who was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for Meritorious Achievement in Desert Storm.

Sharonda (Shay) Mustafa was appointed to the role of Senior Vice President, Business Communications & Sustainability at Reynolds American Inc. in April of 2021. In this role, Shay leads the Reynolds American companies’ corporate communications and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives and helps accelerate the delivery of the BAT Group’s A Better Tomorrow™ corporate purpose.

Prior to assuming her current role, she served as Senior Vice President, Consumer Marketing where she led the Modern Oral business unit. Over her tenure with the organization, Mustafa has held a range of brand marketing leadership positions including leading Newport, Pall Mall and Grizzly.

Mustafa’s previous professional background ranges from senior roles with Fortune 100 companies to co-founder of a technology start up. She earned her MBA in Marketing from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she was awarded the program’s highest honor, the Gower Outstanding Leadership Award, and a BA in Business Administration from Rhodes College.

Mustafa is an avid supporter of S.T.E.M. education and early-stage entrepreneurship.

Wade Huckabee was appointed to the role of Senior Vice President, Strategy and Transformation at Reynolds American Inc. on January 1, 2024. He is responsible for the development and realization of Reynolds’ U.S. strategy, which is comprised of key commercial, organizational, and regulatory pillars.

Wade joined R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in April 2016 as Vice President of Strategy & Planning. He was named Senior Vice President - Marketing in December 2018 and in 2019 assumed the role of General Manager of the Reynolds organization’s Traditional Categories. Wade was appointed Global Head of Revenue Growth in 2022, where he was responsible for accelerating the BAT Group’s sales and category objectives in priority markets around the world. In 2023, he became Group Head of Customer and Commercial, adding the development of global trade marketing to his accountabilities.

Prior to joining the Reynolds organization, his extensive experience in other consumer goods categories included roles in strategy and investor relations at Hanesbrands, Inc., and progressive leadership roles in Finance, Revenue & Margin Management, and Strategic Accounts at Keurig Dr Pepper.

A native Texan, Wade has a Bachelor of Arts in History & English from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA in Finance from Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA. 

Juan Palacios was appointed to the role of Senior Vice President, Business Development at Reynolds American Inc. in August of 2024. In this role, he leads the Business Development team in the U.S., identifying opportunities aligned with Reynolds American’s long-term vision and A Better Tomorrow^TM purpose. In addition, Palacios represents Reynolds American in global BAT Group Strategy stewardship.

Palacios joined the Reynolds American organization in 2006. After spending 13 years with Reynolds American, as part of an international assignment, he moved to the UK in 2019 to join the global BAT Mergers & Acquisitions team. In January of 2023, he assumed the role of Managing Director, Ventures for the BAT Group’s BTomorrow Ventures (BTV) in London. Juan will continue his role at BTV as Managing Director alongside this role. Palacios earned his bachelor's degree in business administration and management from the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Venezuela. In 2006, he earned his MBA in Corporate Finance from the Wake Forest University School of Business in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, graduating with Academic Distinction and was the recipient of the Charles H. Babcock Scholarship.