Bott, who begins her role this month, was previously at BP as global HR director and a member of its executive committee. She has also been a non-executive board member of UBS in Switzerland, chairing the bank's HR and compensation committee and was MD and head of global HR at professional services company Marsh & McLennan.
This marks the second time Bott has worked in the HR department at the bank, having been in an HR role there between 1997 and 2000. She will replace Cathy Turner, who has been group HR director at the company since 2005 and is due to leave at the end of April.