Ricardo Concha’s life has been an adventure — living on three different continents, working for leading global brands and building a family of five. His expansive thinking and curiosity have been hallmarks of his success. Although, he might attribute most of his success to being left-handed.
Let’s dive right in – Corporate Development is a new team for EXE. What are Corporate Development responsibilities and what does success look like?
At a high level, we focus on inorganic actions that create lasting value for the company. This means working with BU leaders and corporate functions, and closely watching the market, so we can proactively identify opportunities and position the company in the most advantageous way. It’s about optimizing asset portfolios and moving faster than our competitors.
In 2025, we are developing a framework that will allow us to judge opportunities efficiently so we can be as proactive as possible. Through the framework, we will consistently evaluate opportunities (what are its upsides? downsides?) and work with others in the company to minimize the downsides of any opportunities we pursue.
I also need to add that we have the ‘A team’ in Corporate Development. Our team is small, but the most capable individuals for their roles that I’ve ever met. I pinch myself that I get to work with such a strong group of people who are focused on collaboration and cross-functional relationships. We are in full ‘action mode’ as we’re in the middle of a healthy pipeline of opportunities.
What interested you in joining Expand Energy?
The short answer is the company is in a great place to take advantage of many opportunities ahead — it’s in the right position to meet societal energy needs.
My longer response relates to my time in energy investments. In my investment advisory role, the size and quality of a company’s leadership team were major indicators of a company’s success. To me, that is the uniqueness of Expand Energy — the combination of two incredible teams with a vision to redefine the industry. Our executives have such clarity around our long-term vision, and I think this indicates the strength of their leadership.
You’ve had an incredible global career. Which experiences were most impactful for your growth?
I’ve always been in the energy space, starting my career on the international side as an engineer. My job was a lot of planning and technical expertise, and I quickly learned that you can’t control everything. I shifted to preparing for the unknown, recognizing that life doesn’t happen in a straight line and I could appreciate (and plan for) the zig zags.
We can’t lose track of preparation, but planning for ‘zig zags’ allowed me to see that success is achievable even when things don’t go according to plan. I bring this mindset to everything I do and I’ve gotten comfortable, and even taken advantage, of uncertainty.
For example, in 2005 I was an engineer working in Scotland, when I became intrigued by what was happening in the sector in the U.S. I saw an incredible opportunity and wanted to be a part of it. I came to the U.S. via an MBA and was in the right place at the right time.
Speaking of your MBA, why is it important to know multiple aspects of the business?
Before I moved to the U.S., I was working for ExxonMobil in a subsurface technical role. While working with my boss to prepare for some high-profile meetings, I was exposed to commercial and investment opportunities within the business. This experience opened my eyes to the idea that even though technical work is critical, other disciplines also create a lot of value in our industry.
In that moment, I challenged myself to think bigger and expansively. Moving to the U.S. helped me to learn so much. The U.S. market is so active and there are a lot of interesting places to create value. I had to get comfortable with new ways of thinking and find opportunities where I could contribute.
What does an ideal day off look like for you?
I love a sunrise run. I started running when I had a young family — it became my social connection. Since then, I’ve dug into marathons. True to my personality, I like the prep, planning and energy management of those types of races. Then, when you’re running, it becomes about the mindset.
After grabbing coffee with my fellow runners, I like to take it easy at home. Ideally that means grabbing a meal on our patio. I like it when our whole family can eat a meal together, but with a son in college and a daughter that’s about to graduate high school, it doesn’t happen often enough. Fortunately, my wife and I also have a 6th grade son who is my partner on the weekend.
My wife and I have been on this adventure for a long time, meeting in college in Venezuela. We were both studying engineering and the only left-handed students in our math class. I like to imagine that this ‘left-handed thinking’ led us to be the only ones to come up with a different solution than the rest of the class… which eventually led to us to date, get married and have our incredible family.
