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David has had a long career leading major investment programmes for Government and the wider public sector. Most recently, he set up, and led as Chief Executive since July 2020, the Houses of Parliament Restoration and Renewal Delivery Authority, with his role there ending and him taking up Non-Executive appointments from September 2024. He has been a Non-Executive Director of the Submarine Delivery Agency since 2022.

David was previously the Chief Operating Officer of the Ministry of Defence (MOD), where he led the Department’s complex multi-billion transformation programme, overhauled the ‘Defence Operating Model’ including the role of Head Office, represented the Department on the Boards of the military commands and was sponsor of 12 arm’s length bodies.

As Chief Executive of the London Legacy Development Corporation, David was responsible for the delivery of the East London regeneration legacy from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, including the development of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and the regeneration of the surrounding areas. This involved creating thousands of new homes, new centres of employment and technological innovation, new visitor and sporting attractions, and developing a major new cultural and educational district in East London. David had previously spent over five years overseeing the funding and programme delivery of the 2012 Games investment on the Olympic Park, including being responsible for the Government’s £9.3bn budget for the 2012 Games, and was then Transport for London’s Chief Finance Officer.

Previously, David spent 12 years in the delivery of locally based investment programmes for Government, establishing the delivery and commercial structures for the Building Schools for the Future school’s investment programme and the NHS LIFT primary healthcare programme, and played a prominent role in establishing the structure by which Local Authorities and schools could deliver private finance projects.

David trained as a CIPFA accountant whilst at the Audit Commission (1986-1989) before moving to Price Waterhouse (1989-1997).