Damian Paterson was appointed Director for Strategy, People & Culture in the Government Legal Department (GLD) in July 2021. Damian has spent most of his Civil Service career at the Ministry of Defence. After joining the MoD Fast Stream programme in 2003, he worked on the MoD response to the Hutton Report, on policy and Parliamentary issues at RAF HQ in High Wycombe, in the Defence Press Office and completed a multinational post-graduate international security programme at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. He also worked on the UK’s overseas defence bases and joined the Chilcot (Iraq) Inquiry team as an analyst. Recent roles include: Deputy Director of the Office for Veterans’ Affairs, delivering the government’s Veterans Strategy. Head of the Army Secretariat & Civilian Workforce in MOD which included Board roles on the Army’s Executive and People Committees and the MOD’s Civil Service HR Board.