David has been with Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, since 2014. He has been Director for Place, and Centres & Networks Governance since Nov 2020, with responsibility for Innovate UK’s strategy on local innovation impact, as well as oversight of Catapult centres, Agri-tech centres and the Knowledge Transfer Network.
Prior to this role he led Innovate UK’s Collaboration and Engagement team, focused on engagement with stakeholders across Government and all-round the UK who are passionate about supporting innovative businesses.
Before joining Innovate UK, David had 20 years’ experience in defence research and development (R&D), programme leadership and strategy at the MOD. His roles included Technical Director for the MOD’s Research Acquisition Organisation, running the MOD’s first SME innovation programme, and representing the UK in several large multinational collaborations. Most recently, he spent 4–years on secondment to the US Department of Defense, working on strategy and coordination across $25bn R&D programmes in the US Services and DARPA.