About Jenzer Advisory
Owner-side judgment for complex industrial situations
I founded Jenzer Advisory to help industrial leaders regain clarity, make better decisions and move difficult work forward when operational pressure, integrity risk, performance gaps and brownfield complexity collide.
My approach combines the structured problem-solving discipline of McKinsey with more than 22 years of operating, transformation and delivery experience at Shell—from refinery operations and Gulf performance improvement to Iraq gas delivery, reliability, asset integrity and mature-asset decision-making.
Former McKinsey consultant · 22+ years at Shell
MBA · PhD Chemical Engineering · Author of E4X
Why I established Jenzer Advisory
Large industrial organisations rarely lack expertise, systems or activity. The harder problem is connecting operating reality, technical judgment, leadership decisions and execution strongly enough for the right work to move.
I established Jenzer Advisory to provide experienced owner-side support without adding another layer of generic consulting—bringing structure where the situation is unclear, challenging priorities where necessary and remaining close enough to execution for decisions to become outcomes.
Today that includes focused advisory, independent reviews, technical due diligence, targeted sprints and embedded support— recently spanning organisational and operational redesign for a major petrochemical organisation in Qatar and refinery technical due diligence for an international investor.
I am Swiss and work internationally across Europe and the Middle East, in multilingual, cross-cultural and joint-venture environments where technical, organisational and stakeholder realities must be addressed together.
Experience shaped by operating accountability
McKinsey
Next stageStructured problem-solving and senior-management advisory
Early consulting work across M&A, strategy, cost reduction and organisational growth developed disciplined issue framing, analytical rigour and clear leadership communication.
Shell — operations and performance
Next stageFrom technologist to operations leadership
Roles in technology, production management, gas-plant operations, reliability and operational excellence created direct accountability for people, plant, maintenance, turnarounds and performance. At Rheinland Refinery, employee engagement improved gradually from Shell's bottom quartile to the highest result across the company, alongside sustained reliability improvement and recognition through a VP Award.
Shell and Basrah Gas Company — transformation and delivery
Next stageOwner-side performance improvement and complex gas delivery
Later roles spanned major refinery performance transformation in the Gulf, cross-portfolio value programmes and owner-side operations readiness for complex gas delivery in Iraq. These positions carried direct accountability for performance, safety and delivery in demanding operating environments.
Jenzer Advisory
Independent owner-side support
Jenzer Advisory now applies this experience through Recover, Asset Performance, Masterplan and E4R. Engagements range from focused advisory and independent reviews to targeted sprints and embedded delivery.
What owner-side means in practice
I work from the perspective of the asset owner: integrating technical reality, operating risk, business consequence and execution capacity into one decision view.
01
Start with operational truth
Understand asset condition, constraints, interfaces and frontline reality before prescribing solutions, working from operating evidence rather than presentation theatre.
02
Protect the owner's priorities
Focus on the risks, value and decisions that matter to the asset, offering direct but constructive challenge rather than selling a predetermined implementation.
03
Connect decisions to execution
Translate leadership choices into owners, actions, evidence and escalation, holding calm structure under pressure.
04
Build capability that remains
Work alongside leadership, technical functions and frontline teams so routines and local ownership remain, rather than creating dependence on external support.
Selected experience
Gulf refinery transformation
- Operational turnaround across two major refineries
- 75% reduction in production losses
- 50% reduction in incidents
- World-leading performance in Solomon benchmarking, led by operational availability and maintenance cost efficiency
- Local leadership and sustained capability development
Iraq gas delivery
- Owner-side operations readiness and start-up
- USD 3 billion-plus greenfield and brownfield portfolio
- Stronger project-to-operations interfaces
- Digital completions implementation
- Workforce localisation and capability development
- Safe transition into operations under technical and geopolitical constraints
Mature-asset value and lifecycle work
- USD 300 million OPEX reduction
- Five-year extension of an ageing asset's economic life
- Proactive facility-risk management
- Stronger connection between risk, lifecycle exposure, cost and asset decisions
Representative outcomes from selected prior roles and engagements; results vary by baseline and operating constraints.
Experience translated into practical methods
Jenzer Advisory translates this experience into practical methods used within client engagements—including E4R for risk and opportunity governance, R3 as its Risk · Review · Response operating cycle, and E4X execution routines. The gradual engagement transformation at Rheinland Refinery—from Shell's bottom quartile to the highest result across the company—became an important foundation for E4X.
How this experience is applied
Jenzer Advisory applies this owner-side experience through three connected offers.
E4R supports all three as the cross-cutting Operational Risk & Opportunity Accelerator.
He brings out the potential from team members and leads from the front. He communicates very effectively, is humble and assertive, and helps team members deliver their best performance.
Feedback from a former direct report
Gregor made an outstanding contribution to cost control and project portfolio optimisation. He was effective with local stakeholders, receptive to their ideas and persistent in driving change.
Feedback from a former Shell colleague
Client and colleague references are available where permitted.
Discuss your situation directly with Gregor
A focused conversation can clarify where the real constraint sits, what leadership needs to decide and whether Jenzer Advisory is the right fit.