My Priorities for the Ministry of Defence

David Williams became the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence in April 2021. David acts as the Accounting Officer for the Department ,the Defence Secretary’s chief policy adviser and, with the Chief of Defence Staff, leads the running of the Department.

David’s previous role was as the Second Permanent Secretary at the Department for Health and Social Care, where he oversaw much of the Department’s response to the COVID pandemic. In his six years at Health, David was also Director General, Finance and Operations where he was responsible for DHSC and NHS finance, strategy and system oversight.

The majority of David’s earlier government career was in Defence. From 2012 to 2015 David was Director General Finance at the MOD, where his portfolio covered defence planning and programming, financial management and investment proposals and accountability frameworks. Prior to this his roles included being Director Capability Development, especially on carrier strike and combat air, acting as senior responsible owner for the future Deterrent, operational planning support for Iraq, and Private Secretary to the Defence Secretary from 2000-2002.