GlaxoSmithKline has announced that its chief financial officer Simon Dingemans is to retire.

Dingemans, who joined in 2011 from Goldman Sachs and has been helping chief executive Emma Walmsley model a new strategy for the firm, will leave GSK next May.

During his tenure Dingemans has helped steer GSK through two major deals – the muti-billion-dollar asset swap with Novartis in 2015, and the buyout of Novartis’ stake in the firms’ consumer health joint venture earlier this year.

Walmsley said Dingemans has played “a very significant role” in shaping the business, having taken “a consistent and sustained approach to support investment and improve operational efficiencies in all three of our global businesses”.

“With the new strategy set, we have established strong foundations to deliver improved business and financial performance and I believe now is the right time for me to take this decision,” Dingemans noted.

The Board said it will now conduct “a thorough global search both internally and externally” to identify a successor.