James Benford

Chief Data Officer, Executive Director for Data and Analytics Transformation Bank of England

James is Executive Director for Data and Analytics Transformation and Chief Data Officer. James is responsible for the Bank’s collection of statistics and regulatory data and for a Bank-wide transformation agenda to enable the Bank to make the best possible use of data across all its functions through effective analytical processes that continuously improve.

James was Private Secretary to Governors Mark Carney and Andrew Bailey from 2018-20 and then spent 3 years on secondment in the civil service, first as Director for Analysis as the Joint Biosecurity Centre was established and then as Director of the Economics Group and Departmental Head of Profession for Analysis at HM Treasury, where he established their data science hub.

James joined the Bank of England in 2005. He headed up the Bank’s Global Analysis Division, where he represented the UK on the G20 Framework and International Financial Architecture working groups, and established and led the Bank’s Brexit Contingency Planning team. He has worked in various roles across the Bank’s Monetary Analysis and Financial Stability areas, has produced and presented the Monetary Policy Committee’s economic forecasts and was part of the Secretariat for the Financial Policy Committee. James has a first degree in economics from the University of Cambridge and a master’s degree in economics from the London School of Economics.