Jon Watts
Biography
Jon Watts was appointed Non-Executive Director at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) on 15 May 2025. Jon will also serve as chair of the department鈥檚 Audit and Risk Assurance Committee.
Jon has an international career spanning global businesses and the third sector. He currently serves as a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee at the UK Environment Agency, and as a Trustee and Chair of the Finance Audit and Risk Committee of the Eden Trust.
During 27 years in business, Jon held senior leadership roles in listed multinational companies, including Regional Chief Financial Officer of Unilever Latin America and as Group Director of Finance and Control at SABMiller PLC.聽While at Unilever he worked in Poland, the USA and Chile, as well as in the UK.聽
Jon has since worked in 2 international charities: Save the Children, as Global Chief Financial Officer, and The Children鈥檚 Investment Fund Foundation, where he was Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director for Organisational Development.
More recently, Jon has acted as an adviser to foundations and non-government organisations (NGOs) on organisational capability and resilience.
Non-Executive Director
Board members give corporate leadership to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) by ensuring that the department meets the international policy priorities, Public Service Agreements targets and service delivery targets set by ministers.
The role of a Non-Executive Director is to provide an effective and objective challenge to the rest of the Board and officials.