Rob was born in Paddington, London and grew up in the London Borough of Brent. He joined the Ministry of Justice [then Lord Chancellors Department] in Oct 1983 – starting at Willesden County Court in North London.

Rob progressed to Deputy Court Manager before joining the South Eastern Circuit I.T. Team. In 1998 Rob landed his dream job with Corporate HR as a Development Trainer. Rob studied at the Civil Service College for two years, gaining a Certificate in Training Practice [CTP] and is now a member of CIPD.

Rob was a founding member of the MoJ’s BAME Staff network in 2001, namely P.R.O.U.D. Later in that same year, Rob became the first elected Chair of the Civil Service Race Equality Network [CSREN] – known today as CSRF – the Civil Service Race Forum.

Over the past fifteen years Rob has continued his MoJ career in HR. As an original member of the MoJ’s Employee Engagement Team, Rob led the design, recruitment and launch of the Engagement Champions Network in 2008. As MoJ’s Head of Engagement Networks Rob was responsible for the development of Employee Engagement Champions [EECs] across the MoJ. This pioneering network now boasts over x1000 people across the entire MoJ Family – including; Courts, Tribunals, Prisons and the Legal Aid Agency.

In the summer of 2015 Rob was invited to lead the MoJ’s Diversity & Inclusion Team over the summer as temporary cover for four months. During this period Rob led the delivery of key priorities, including the Department’s response to the Civil Service Talent Action Plan and renegotiating contracts with all Diversity Staff Networks.

In April 2016 Rob was included in the ‘New View 50’ which recognises influential Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) professionals in the public sector https://issuu.com/elevationetworks/docs/nv_final_list

In May 2016 Rob was chosen to lead the MoJ’s Race Project – an inward facing programme of work aimed at supporting the MoJ’s published Diversity & Inclusion objectives and turning the dial on race equality.

In September 2016 Rob was elected Chair of the Civil Service Race Forum. The Civil Service Race Forum [CSRF] is an umbrella network of BAME Staff Networks across the civil service made up of over 30 Government departments, reaching over 6,000 BAME civil servants working at all levels. Rob ended his one year tenure as Chair of CSRF in January 2018 and remains a member the CSRF Executive Committee as Non-Executive Director [NED]. Rob now chairs the MoJ’s Diverse Leaders Taskforce in support of the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy. After 35yrs at the MoJ, Rob moved to the Department for Education in April 2019 to lead the Culture Change & Leadership Unit on the Transformation & Digital Directorate.

Rob has been a Trustee with RELATE for ten years and also volunteers as the Social Media Director with the Reach Society.

Rob was awarded an OBE in the 2018 New Year’s Honours list for ‘Services to Race Equality in the workplace and the community’ and received his gong from the Queen at Buckingham Palace in May 2018. Later in the same year Rob became the inaugural winner of Investing in Ethnicity’s Workplace Hero Award in November 2018 before successfully graduating from the Civil Service Future Leaders Scheme in January 2019.

Rob lives with his wife and their two children in Harrow.