Graeme Biggar CBE was appointed Director General of the National Crime Agency (NCA) in October 2021, having joined the NCA as the Director General of the National Economic Crime Centre (NECC) in March 2019. Prior to the NCA, Graeme was the Director of National Security in the Home Office, Chief of Staff to the Defence Secretary in the Ministry of Defence and held a range of other senior Civil Service roles.

The NCA has a pivotal role in protecting the public from organised crime and national security threats, working collaboratively with partners in law enforcement, the UK intelligence community and across Government. As an experienced senior civil servant, Graeme has been leading the NECC, which is a collaborative, multi-agency centre established to deliver a step change in the response to tackling serious organised economic crime. It has been set up to protect the public, prosperity and the UK’s reputation by leaving no safe space for criminals and reducing the threat of economic crime.

As Director National of Security in the Home Office, Graeme worked on countering terrorism and state threats. His experience includes helping shape the response to the 2017 terrorist attacks, the Salisbury attack, and overseeing the Investigatory Powers Act implementation programme across government.

From 2013 to 2016, Graeme was the Chief of Staff to the Defence Secretary. He was responsible for assisting the Defence Secretary in developing and implementing his priorities, and for leading the Defence Secretary’s private office, the other Defence Ministerial private offices and the Parliamentary Branch.

Graeme has held positions including the Head of Operational Policy, Head of Defence Security, Head of the Defence Reform Unit, Head of Defence Business Improvement and Head of the Defence Change Portfolio. He has also spent a year at the Royal College of Defence Studies, where he was awarded the top distinction in a MA in International Security Studies. Graeme also spent three years in the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs, where he managed a major organisational change programme and was then head of Rural Economic Policy Division.

Graeme was awarded a CBE in recognition of his outstanding contribution in his previous role as Director National Security keeping the country safe from the most serious national security threats. Graeme took over the reins on an interim basis from Dame Lynne Owens on Tuesday 5 October, 2021.