NFCC Lead Officers
Lead Officers are subject matter experts in particular area affecting or related to fire and rescue. They often chair or work with committees who ensure that NFCC is always at the forefront of emerging issues in the fire sector. Leads may be called upon to offer comment to media when their area of expertise is relevant to a major event, or they may be called upon to advise on the development of new products, guidance, or tools.
If you are interested in becoming a Lead Officer, you can view all vacancies here
Below, you can see a list of current NFCC Lead Officers.
Lead Officers
| Subject Area | Committee | Subject Matter Expert |
|---|---|---|
| Accelerated Development Pathways & Direct Entry | People, Culture and Leadership | Rob Barber |
| ACER Chair | Organisational Learning Board | Dr Rowena Hill |
| ACER Vice Chair including Organisational Learning | Organisational Learning Board | Jim Davies |
| Airwave Security & Firelink | Operations | Matt Cane |
| Alternative Fuels & Energy Systems | Operations | Phil Clark |
| Animal Rescue | Operations | Steve Buchanan-Lee |
| Apprenticeships (Deputy Lead) | People, Culture and Leadership | Ashley Roberts |
| Apprenticeships including End Point Assessment | People, Culture and Leadership | Gavin Ellis |
| Arson & Anti-Social Behaviour | Prevention | Keith Carruthers |
| Artificial Intelligence | Data, Digital & Technology | Dr Francis Long |
| Assistive Technology | Prevention | Terry Pinto |
| Automatic Fire Alarms/Unwanted Fire Signals | Protection | Steve Norman |
| Automatic Water Suppression Systems/Sprinklers | Protection | Richard Clark |
| British Standards Institution (BSI) | Protection | Nick Coombe, supported by Brett Egan-Briers, Richard Clark, Lynsey McVay |
| Building Safety Programme | Protection | NFCC PPRU team |
| Business Continuity & Resilience | Operations | Steve Lewis |
| Business Engagement | Protection | TBC |
| Carbon Monoxide | Prevention | Mike Porter |
| Casualty Care | Operations | Simon Todd |
| Chartered Insitute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA) Statistics | Finance | Martin Reohorn |
| Children and Young People | Prevention | Mark Baxter |
| Children's Education & Staywise | Prevention | Mark Thomas |
| Clutter and Hoarding | Prevention | Gail Muirhead |
| Command & Control / National Command & Control User Group (NCCUG) | Operations | Lynsey McVay |
| Community Mental Health / Chair of NFCC Mental Health Board | Prevention | Emily Fernandez |
| Community Health | Prevention | Ged Devereux |
| Community Risk Management Planning | Organisational Learning Board | Nikki Richards |
| Competency of Protection & Business | Protection | Adreena Parkin-Coates / Ian Leigh |
| Contaminants | Operations | Luke Gazzard |
| Counter Terrorism | Operations | Jonathan Smith |
| Cyber | Data, Digital & Technology | Tom Luxon |
| Dementia | Prevention | Rachael Spencer |
| Data, Digital & Technology (DDaT) Committee Chair | Data, Digital & Technology | Jonathan Dyson |
| Data Lead & Data Board Chair | Data, Digital & Technology | Sally Wilson |
| Digital Technology & Cyber Lead (DTC) & DTC Board Chair | Data, Digital & Technology | Callum Faint |
| Domestic Detection | Prevention | Claire Monk |
| Driver Training Advisory Group (DTAG) | Operations | Kevin Dell |
| Driving for Better Business | Prevention | Claire Harris |
| Drones and Robotics | Operations | Tim Murrell |
| Early Intervention | Prevention | John Anderson |
| Electrical Safety | Prevention | Richard Field |
| Emergency Response Driver Training | Operations | Chris Else |
| Emergency Preparedness & Resilience | Operations | Steve Lewis |
| Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) | Operations | Matt Cane |
| Emollients | Prevention | Chris Bell |
| Environment & Climate Change | Organisational Learning Board | Ben Brook & Mark Rist |
| Equality, Diversity & Inclusion | People, Culture and Leadership | Jo Richardson and Louise Harrison |
| Estates Excellence (Trade) | Protection | Nick Coombe |
| Fatal Five/Four Plus | Prevention | Ryan Swindell |
| Finance Committee Chair | Finance | Matthew Warren |
| Fire Cadets | Prevention | Lauren Woodward |
| Fire Control Guidance Forum | Operations | Ann Gale |
| Fire Engineering & Technical Standards | Protection | Richard Clark |
| Fire Fighters Charity | People, Culture and Leadership | Richard Welch |
| Fire Finance | Finance | James Cunningham |
| Fire Investigation | Protection | Matthew Jones |
| Fire Lawyers | Finance | TBC |
| Fire Safety Intervention | Prevention | Matt Gillatt |
| Firefighting Media | Operations | Mark Gosling |
| Firefit | People, Culture and Leadership | Samantha Pink |
| Fires in Tall Buildings | Operations | Ben Levy |
| Fleet & Equipment/TOG | Finance | Glynn Richardson |
| FM Global | Protection | Nick Coombe |
| Hazmats & Environmental Protection | Operations | Dave Walton |
| Health & Safety | Operations | Craig Parkin |
| Health & Wellbeing | People, Culture and Leadership | TBC |
| HMICFRS / Inspection Outcomes | Improvement | Mark Havell |
| Home Safety Committee Lead | Prevention | Thomas Hirst |
| Housing - Home Safety Visits | Prevention | Mark Thomas |
| ICT Managers Lead | Data, Digital & Technology | Julian Martin |
| Improvement Committee Chair | Improvement | Sabrina Cohen-Hatton |
| Improvement Committee Vice Chair | Improvement | Stewart Nicholson |
| Industrial Relations | People, Culture and Leadership | Gavin Ellis |
| Information Governance | Data, Digital & Technology | Sarah Bailey |
| International Affairs | Improvement | Matt Sutcliffe |
| JESIP | Operations | Peter Heath |
| Kings Trust | Prevention | Steve McCormick |
| Leadership and Organisational Development (OD) | People, Culture and Leadership | Wayne Bowcock until March. TBC |
| Local Resilience Forums | Operations | Alex Woodman |
| Maritime Response | Operations | James Kirk / Ant Westbrook |
| Medicines and Medical Devices Lead Officer | Prevention | Advert closes 30th January 2026, Midday. |
| Mobilising Officers Group | Operations | Sarah Cuthbert |
| Mobility Scooter Guidance | Stuart Ruckledge | |
| Modern Fuels and Energy Technologies (Previously Emerging Technology) | Operations | Richard Abbott / Kristian Clowes |
| Motorcycles/Two-wheeled Vehicles | Prevention | Billy Fenwick |
| Multi Agency Incident Transfer (MAIT) | Operations | Clare Taylor |
| National Coordination and Advisory Framework (NCAF) | Operations | Craig Hill |
| National Resilience | Operations | Nick Searle |
| National Resilience: Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN: MD Strategic Advisor) | Operations | Dan Cartwright |
| National Resilience: Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear (CBRN: MD Capability Lead) | Operations | Warren Lyndon |
| National Resilience: Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN: DIM) | Operations | Chris Noakes |
| National Resilience: Command & Control | Operations | John Roberts |
| National Resilience: Flood Rescue | Operations | Daniel Harnes |
| National Resilience: High Volume Pump (HVP) & Floods | Operations | Steve Helps |
| National Resilience: Marauding Terrorist Attack (MTA) Specialist Response | Operations | Jonathan Clark |
| NFCC Service Implementation | Improvement | Nick Brennan |
| Nuclear & Radiation | Operations | Chris Noakes |
| Nuclear and Radiological | Operations | Advert closes 3rd February 2026, Midday. |
| On-call | Operations | Steve Healey / Andy Cole |
| Operational Preparedness Response and Resilience Committee Chair | Operations | John Roberts |
| Operational Communications | Operations | Callum Faint |
| Operational Guidance Forum | Operations | Barry Sands |
| Operational Learning | Operations | Jim Davies |
| Operational Infrastructure & Transportation | Operations | Matt Deadman |
| Operational Research & Development | Operations | Dave Russel |
| Operational Training and Education | Operations | Nick Smith / Craig Flannery |
| Partner Engagement | Protection | TBC |
| Pensions | People, Culture and Leadership | Dawn Docx |
| People, Culture & Leadership Committee Chair | People, Culture and Leadership | Rob MacDougall |
| People, Culture & Leadership Committee Vice Chair | People, Culture and Leadership | Wayne Bowcock |
| People | People, Culture and Leadership | Colette Black |
| People (Deputy Lead) | People, Culture and Leadership | Sonia Pawson |
| Petroleum, Explosives & Fireworks | Protection | Chris Kemp |
| PPE / Clothing | Operations | Brett Egan-Briers |
| Prevention Committee Chair | Prevention | Chris Kirby |
| Primary Authority | Protection | Dean Dixon |
| Procurement: National Collaborative Procurement Coordinator | National Commercial Board | Ann Millington / Luke Malton |
| Productivity & Efficency | Improvement | Phil Shillito |
| Property/Estates | Finance | Ijaz Bashir & Paul Brooks |
| Protection Committee Chair | Protection | Dave Russel |
| Public Health (NHS) | Prevention | Ged Devereux |
| Recovery Advisory Group | Operations | |
| Regulation & Enforcement | Protection | Brian Harvey |
| Research & Development | Organisational Learning Board | Jon Anderson |
| Respiratory Protective Equipment (including PPE & BA Telemetry) | Operations | David Lynch |
| Road National Campaigns & Road Safety Partnership Calendar | Prevention | Louise Curtis |
| Road Safety | Prevention | Dan Quin |
| Safe Working at Height | Operations | Alex Tilley |
| Safeguarding | Prevention | Donna Bentley |
| Safety Critical Information | Operations | Chris Davies |
| Scientific Support Cell | Operations | Peter Heath |
| Smoking, Tobacco and Vaping | Prevention | Joanne Henderson |
| Strategic Command & Control | Operations | Lynsey McVay |
| Strategic Data Lead | Data, Digital & Technology | Steve Taylor |
| Strategic Digital, Technology & Cyber | Data, Digital & Technology | Gillian Fyfe |
| Structural Timber | Protection | Ashley Mather (SME) |
| Suicide Prevention | Prevention | TBC |
| Tactical Firefighting | Operations | Simon Neill |
| Technical Response | Operations | Jon Lacey |
| Technology Enabled Care | Prevention | Terry Pinto |
| Transportation - Aviation | Operations | TBC |
| Transportation - Rail (including tunnels and underground structures and HS2) | Operations | Gerald Taylor |
| Transportation - Road | Operations | Dan Quin |
| UK Research Organisation (UKRO) | Operations | Dan Quin |
| Unwanted Fire Signals | Protection | Steve Norman / Per Middleton / Jon Henderson |
| Urban Search & Rescue National Resilience | Operations | Mark Baldwin |
| International Search & Rescue (ISAR) | Operations | Mark Baldwin |
| Vice - Chair Protection Committee | Protection | TBC |
| Vice - Chair Data Board | Data, Digital &Technology | Kirsty James |
| Vice - Chair Digital, Technology and Cyber (DTC) Board | Data, Digital & Technology | Sarah Taylor |
| Violence against Women & Girls (VAWG) | People, Culture and Leadership | Nikki Watson |
| Volunteering | Prevention | Wendy Richings |
| Waste & Recycling Management | Operations | Neil Griffiths (Lead) and James Bywater (Deputy) |
| Water Rescue | Operations | Bryn Coleman |
| Water Safety and Drowning Prevention | Prevention | Gavin Ellis |
| Wildfire | Operations | Craig Hope |
| Working Patterns (including Retained Duty System) | Operations | Steve Healey |
| Young Drivers | Prevention | Annabelle Priest |