British civil servant and executive
Jeffrey Daniel Dominic James (né Walker; born 11 March 1968) is a British public servant and executive, and former Royal Navy sailor. Since 2014, he has been Chief executive and Keeper of The National Archives.[1][2]
Early life and education
James was born on 11 March 1968 in Solihull, West Midlands, England.[2] His surname at birth was Walker, but it was changed to James when he was later adopted by Edwin and Edith James.[2] From 1979 to 1984, he was educated at Park View Comprehensive School in Chester-le-Street, County Durham.[3]
James did not attend university straight after leaving school. Later, he studied for a degree with the Open University, a part-time distance learning university, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 2001.[2] He studied history as a postgraduate at the University of Hertfordshire, completing his Master of Arts degree in 2010.[2]
Career
Military service
In 1984, James joined the Royal Navy as a rating.[2] He trained as an electronic engineer,[4] and specialised as a Weapons Engineering Artificer.[3] He worked on the Resolution-class and Vanguard-class submarines, which operate the Polaris and Trident nuclear programmes respectively.[3] In 1992, he was promoted to chief petty officer.[2] He left the navy in September 1998 after 14 years of service.[3]
Public service
After leaving the Royal Navy, James joined the University of Leeds as an IT technical support officer.[3] He was later appointed Network Group Manager.[2] From 2003 to 2004 he was operations manager of Swift Research Ltd, a Yorkshire-based market research agency.[2][5] In 2004, he joined the British Library and worked in various operations management positions for the next three years.[4] He ended his time at the British Library as Head of Operations.[2]
In 2007, James joined The National Archives as Head of Access and Records Knowledge, before becoming Director of Operations in 2008.[2][4] From June 2013 to July 2014 he was Deputy Chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing,[6] and was "responsible for leading on strategy development, operational excellence, business performance and change management".[1][2] In May 2014, he was announced as the next Chief executive and Keeper of The National Archives.[1] He took up the appointment on 29 July 2014.[1][4]
Personal life
In 2010, James married Joanne Knight.[2] Together they have three sons, including a set of twins.[2][7]
United Kingdom
Royal Navy