Ian was previously the Governing Board's local authority-nominated governor and has children at Federation schools. He has lived in Lewisham since 2010 and has previously been trustee and vice-chair of governors at a South London secondary school and chaired its’ HR, finance and audit committee.

He is National Grid Ventures’ stakeholder manager for its interconnector business, after previously leading communications and advocacy for UK offshore wind at BP. He originally joined BP's refining business in 1999 with a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cambridge. He is a chartered chemical engineer and chartered scientist, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

He was previously a non-executive director of STEM Learning Ltd, who operate the National STEM Learning Centre and Network on behalf of government, industry and charitable trusts, and a trustee of the ENTHUSE Charitable Trust, which funds continuing professional development of STEM teachers and technicians in maintained UK schools. He led a major educational research and development programme focusing on inspiring more young people to choose the STEM subjects after the age of 16, and his major passion in education is increasing social mobility and ensuring opportunity for all young people to succeed.