Nelson (pictured above) moved to DWP to take on his current role in early 2013, after previous CIO Philip Langsdale passed away. He was formerly the CIO at the Ministry of Justice, and also held the post of government CIO until the role was scrapped during a wider shake-up of Whitehall IT governance.
Announced in March 2013, this saw Nelson’s cross-Whitehall responsibilities shift to the Government Digital Service, whilst CIOs lost over-arching leadership roles to departmental chief technology officers and the ‘digital leaders’ appointed in departments in 2013.
Nelson’s stint at the DWP has coincided with the Universal Credit project, which has led to conflict between DWP staff and the Cabinet Office over spending controls and IT development techniques. The project has already seen multiple changes of management, and Nelson’s exit is likely to cause further instability.
Prior to joining the civil service, Nelson worked for Anderson (now Accenture), GE Capital and Royal Sun Alliance, and was a self-employed consultant.