Graham Robjohns is resigning as Golar LNG CFO after nearly 20 years with the LNG carrier company.
The shipowner said the executive will leave on 30 April next year to "facilitate a smooth transition".
Spin-off Golar LNG Partners (GMLP) also said that Brian Tienzo is stepping down as CEO and will focus full time on Golar group financing.
Robjohns will take on the additional role of Golar Partners CEO until his leaving date, with the Golar group starting the process now to replace both him and Tienzo.
Robjohns said: “The journey with Golar from a small LNG shipping company with six ships to where we are today has been exciting, interesting, challenging and fun in equal measure.
"Golar has a wonderful team of highly talented people and the opportunities to create a very successful next chapter."
He added: "After 20 years however, I feel the time is now right for change and for me to seek new challenges outside of Golar. I wish the company well and look forward to seeing it flourish”.
Very important to company
Golar Partners chairman Tor Olav Troim paid tribute to Robjohns, saying he has been a very important part of the management team since Golar LNG was listed in 2000.
"He has had several key management positions in the group and has always worked extremely hard and delivered superior and diligent services to the group," Troim added.
"These services have been critical in the transformation of Golar from an LNG shipping company to today’s LNG infrastructure company”.
In his last six months, Robjohns will focus on structural opportunities for Golar Partners to "optimise the value of the assets and the large order backlog" at the company.
The group said it was pleased to be able to retain Tienzo in the organisation.
"Brian has been instrumental in arranging most of Golar's debt facilities and is, based on his experience and dedication, a very important part of the Golar management team going forward," it added.
No negative implications
Chris Snyder at Deutsche Bank said: "While the timing of the shake-up may surprise some, as Golar is pretty far down the road towards spinning off its LNG shipping fleet, it is important to note that CFO Graham Robjohns will stay on board until April 2020 and the shipping spin is expected to be completed by YE 2019.
"For this reason, we do not think the shake-up has negative implications for the shipping spin."
He added: "With GLNG shares trading at a 50% discount to intrinsic value based on our analysis and GMLP shares yielding an unsustainable 17%, major structural changes are needed to unlock value in the Golar group.
"From speaking with the company this morning, it sounds like all options are on the table as Golar acknowledges something substantial needs to be done, particularly on the MLP side."
