Derek Lamb – President and Founder – The Scot Group S.A
Derek was born in Scotland, raised in Canada, and has been residing in Ecuador the last 8 years. He began his business career on the trading floor of the Alberta Stock Exchange and, by the age of thirty, had founded a private investment and communications firm. He also served as a founding director of a publicly listed educational sports software company.
Over the past 25 years, Derek has worked internationally in senior executive roles across multiple sectors. His early international career began in Ecuador with Alberta Energy/Verde Green, where he was appointed General Manager and led a diverse workforce of over 1,200 employees. In this role, he oversaw engineering, construction, labor, security, and logistics operations supporting the oil and gas sector in the high-risk Tarapoa Block near the Colombian border. After two years, he successfully divested the business on their behalf.
Following a global search, Derek was recruited by Canadian industrial leader Alcan as Country Manager for Ecuador. He was responsible for all national operations, including five manufacturing plants and 1,800 employees, and oversaw the world’s largest balsa forestry company following Alcan’s acquisition of the business.
After eight years in Ecuador, Derek was transferred to Port Elizabeth, South Africa, as part of the senior management team for the proposed US$1.2 billion Coega Aluminum Smelter. He was appointed Senior Manager, Regional Economic Development & Social Responsibility, accountable for strategy, development, implementation, and long-term sustainability of Alcan’s regional economic development and stakeholder engagement across the Eastern Cape. During this assignment, Alcan was acquired by Rio Tinto, which asked Derek to remain in South Africa with expanded responsibilities.
Derek was then promoted to Rio Tinto’s corporate security headquarters in London, England where he served as Global Manager, Business Resilience & Recovery. He led the development and global deployment of a risk-based resilience program spanning more than 60 countries, 70,000 employees, and billions of dollars in assets. After completing the development and successful rollout of this program, he returned to Canada.
He then transitioned to strategic consulting roles with both UK-based and Australian emergency response and crisis-management firms. His work focused on business development and crisis-management training—both board-level preparedness and operational, high-risk field environments. He also served as Senior Advisor, Business Development for Latin America & Canada with Baldwin M&A Partners, Seattle’s oldest private investment banking firm.
Derek was the founder and former President of the Ecuadorian Canadian Business Association, as well as the founder and President of the Ecuadorian Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Quito.
He has completed numerous executive leadership and corporate management programs in Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Ecuador, Germany, South Africa, and the United States. Derek is a graduate of Alcan’s Lean Six Sigma programs and completed executive studies in Financial Management and International Business at the American Management Association in New York. He has received extensive emergency response and crisis-management training, leading multiple emergency and crisis response teams, including a kidnapping and ransom incident in Ecuador and a mass-fatality helicopter accident in Peru.
Most recently, through The Scot Group, Derek acted as Operations Manager on behalf of an Australian exploration company during its start-up drilling program in southern Ecuador and served as Strategic Advisor in the preparation, buyer identification, and successful sale of a US$15,000,000 gold mine, including more than 30 concessions, processing facility, and all related assets.
Derek has recently re-located to Prince George B.C spending this past summer riding his bike, exploring nature and is ready for new opportunities in 2026.
www.thescotgroup.com
