James' 20+ year career combines strategy and engineering across multiple sectors, notably automotive and aerospace. Following his Masters Engineering degree, James joined engineering consultancy Ricardo as a drivetrain engineer and went on to manage R&D projects for automotive clients around the world. Following a dual degree MBA at the Kellogg School of Management, James moved sectors to join management consultancy Booz & Company where he worked on and led a variety of strategy and operations projects for clients across aviation, defence, pharmaceuticals, distribution and finance. It was from Booz that James joined the Aerospace Technology Institute as Chief Strategy Officer and one of its founding executives to set up the organisation in 2014. In 2018 James' role expanded to include responsibility for all business operations. As CSO, James oversaw development of several strategic initiatives including the world's first dedicated commercial aerospace startup accelerator and project FlyZero, a one year strategic research project to understand the technical and commercial potential of zero-carbon emissions technologies for aviation. In 2021 James was awarded a commendation by the Air League for his contributions to the UK aerospace industry.