United Kingdom, January 2026 — Des M. has started a new chapter as Deputy Chief People Officer & Director of Strategic HR Business Partnering at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), where he will lead strategic people partnering, organisational capability building and enterprise workforce transformation supporting the UK’s national research and innovation system.
In his current appointment at UK Research and Innovation, Des M. acts as the trusted deputy to the Chief People Officer, shaping enterprise people strategy, coaching senior executives, strengthening leadership capability and building future-ready HR leadership across the organisation.
Prior to UKRI, Des served as Global Chief People Officer at the British Army, leading the global people agenda for more than 27,000 employees across 21 locations worldwide. He partnered closely with executive boards on organisational design, leadership capability, engagement and cultural transformation, delivering significant improvements in employee engagement, wellbeing, culture and governance.
Earlier, he led large-scale HR transformation programmes, workforce strategy and financial planning portfolios, and shared services operations across Defence, delivering major cost savings, digital HR modernisation and enterprise workforce planning for large public sector systems.
At the foundation of his career, Des built deep operational and leadership development expertise through senior HR and people operations leadership roles within Defence, as well as early leadership training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
Des M. holds an MBA from the University of Staffordshire.
About UK Research and Innovation
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is the UK’s public body responsible for investing over £8 billion annually to support research and innovation. UKRI enables economic, social, environmental and cultural impact by empowering researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs across the United Kingdom and globally.
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