Claire Williams says Rob Smedley could take a step away from the race-to-race operation of the team and move into a factory role for 2017.
Smedley is currently Williams' head of vehicle performance and oversees the Williams cars at every race. Towards the end of the season there were rumours Smedley's role may change in 2017 as the team looks to recover from this year, which saw it lose out to Force India in the battle for fourth position.
When asked about the rumours in Abu Dhabi, deputy team principal Williams said: "Those are conversations we may or may not be having. Whether he's at the track or at Grove he will still make an important contribution.
"With all our personnel you have to decide where their technical abilities are best-placed, and that's not from a negative perspective -- someone like Rob wants to progress and do more and sometimes that's not at the track, it's possibly back at the factory in a bigger role. So we will wait and see."
Smedley joined Williams from Ferrari in 2014 with Felipe Massa, who retired from F1 in Abu Dhabi after his 250th race start. Smedley's arrival was part of a technical overhaul which helped the team to a resurgence in 2014 and 2015, finishing third in both seasons.
Williams says Smedley is a vital part of the team and possess the attributes she desires for her family's team.
"Rob has done a fantastic job for us ever since he joined us. I don't envisage any changes, he's a very important part of this team. Not only is he really strong technically, he's very capable, but he's also a very passionate person and that's one of the things I love about him and one of the things this team needs.
"This team needs people that know and understand that winning takes sacrifices and putting every single bit of blood, sweat and tears in to win. People like Rob has that, that's the DNA that runs through people like Rob Smedley and I don't want to lose him from the team."