Ian is Director of International Affairs for the Royal Society, the UK's National Academy  of Science, where he leads on the Society’s global engagement. Before joining the Royal Society in 2022, Ian worked at the University of York in a number of roles including as Director of Operations, and served as the first Director for the York-Maastricht Partnership, the university's strategic relationship with Maastricht University. 

Ian is a former British Diplomat where he worked in the Foreign Office HQ in London on counter terrorism, climate change, and energy policy briefs and had diplomatic postings in Moscow and in Washington D.C. where he was Deputy Head of the Embassy’s political section during the 2016 Presidential elections.

Alongside his role at the Royal Society, Ian is a member of the Advisory Council for Wilton Park, an executive agency of the UK’s Foreign Office; and is a member of the International Science Council’s Committee for Finance, Compliance and Risk. Outside of the Society, Ian is also Chair of Trustees for Excel Learning Trust, a charity which runs seven schools based in York. He is a chemist by training and holds a Master's degree in Chemistry from the University of Nottingham.