Who we are

Ruth Curry

People and Finance Director

Ruth Curry joined NS&I on 1 July 2019. She has extensive civil service experience, starting her career in the Cabinet Office and undertaking a wide variety of policy roles, including leading on Open Government, clerk to the Intelligence & Security Committee, and as the Health policy lead in the Office of Public Service Reform.

Having qualified as an accountant in 2006, Ruth has held senior finance roles in a number of departments including the Department for Education, Serious Fraud Office and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Before joining NS&I, Ruth was Acting Director of Finance and Business Services Director at HM Land Registry.

Before joining the civil service, Ruth was a solicitor working on company and commercial issues in the City. She studied Law at Lancaster University, completed her legal studies at Guildford College of Law, and undertook her articles with Stephenson Harwood LLP.

2021-22 Salary:
£115,000 - £120,000

• Ruth Curry on LinkedIn

Dax Harkins

Business-to-Business Director

Dax is responsible for the development and delivery of the business-to-business strategy. His accountabilities include the management of existing clients, winning and transitioning new clients.

A joint honours degree graduate of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, Dax has worked in financial services for over 20 years. Starting his career in sales, Dax quickly progressed into various marketing roles, with a focus on product development, customer management and customer experience.

In 2003, Dax joined NS&I and moved from marketing in 2011 to Programme Director for the retender of the NS&I outsourcing contract. After successfully awarding the contract and ensuring a smooth transition, Dax was appointed to the board in 2014 as Business-to-Business Director and became an Institute of Directors-accredited Chartered Director in 2018.

2020-21 Salary:
£110,000 - £115,000

Gareth Headon

Communications and Strategy Director

Gareth joined NS&I's Board in February 2021 as Acting People and Strategy Director. In December 2022 he was appointed Communications and Strategy Director. He leads internal and external communications, market research and insight, and strategy.

Gareth joined NS&I in 2008 initially as Head of Media and then Head of Communications leading on all internal and external communications activity. He became Assistant Director, Communications and Strategy in 2014. 

Prior to N&SI, Gareth spent six years with Eurostar where he worked across corporate and consumer PR and government relations. He also worked for two years in Which? magazine’s press office and began his career at a PR agency working with clients in the technology sector.

2021-22 Salary:
£110,000 – £115,000

Paul Henry

Director, Risk

Paul Henry was appointed as Risk Director on 7 July 2018 and is a commercially focused regulatory change professional and Conduct specialist who has held Conduct, Compliance, Regulatory, Operational Risk and Anti Money Laundering roles at senior and Regulatory approved levels across a number of UK globally significant financial institutions.

Paul has proven experience in demonstrating a combination of commercial acumen and technical expertise to deliver effective conduct and regulatory solutions to Governance, Regulatory, Compliance, AML and change management challenges. Paul considers himself a team player who partners with senior executive stakeholders in the rapidly changing corporate, retail, commercial and wholesale banking environments to achieve strategic and customer focused goals.

2021-22 Salary:
£120,000 - £125,000

Matthew Smith

Chief Operating Officer

Matt is responsible for the delivery of the NS&I outsourcing business model and the relationship with the Agency’s key partner Atos, including service delivery, complaints, commercial and change assurance and procurement. He joined NS&I in August 2018 and brings over twenty-five years of global experience leading sourcing, operational excellence and business transformation initiatives to deliver customer-focused outcomes.

Matt was most recently Director of EMEA Supply Chain for DXC Technology (DXC), the world’s leading independent, end-to-end IT services and solutions company, during a period of major change before, during and after the creation of DXC through the merger of Computer Sciences Corporation and HP Enterprise Services. Before DXC, Matt had a long career with the Dun & Bradstreet Corporation (DNB), where he was most recently Global Vice-President and Chief Procurement Officer with responsibility for sourcing and third-party compliance.

Prior to that he was International Vice-President for strategy implementation and business process reengineering across DNB’s footprint in Europe, Asia Pacific and South America, where he partnered with stakeholders to deliver operations and supply chain strategy, operating margin optimisation and acquisition integration. Earlier in his career, Matt had a variety of roles in operations management, sourcing and change implementation.

Matt is a certified practitioner of Managing Successful Programmes and a previous recipient of the annual Institute of Consulting award for best internal consulting project.

2021-22 Salary:
£135,000 - £140,000

Jill Waters

Retail Director

Jill was NS&I’s Acting Retail Director. Following an open recruitment exercise, Jill was appointed in the substantive position as Retail Director in March 2018 and is responsible for leading the development, management and growth of the Retail business on behalf of NS&I, which includes customer offer, marketing and sales, brand, product management and retail experience.

In her time at NS&I, Jill has also held the following roles: Head of Sales and Operational Delivery, Head of Digital Channels and Assistant Director for Retail.

In 2001, she joined NS&I from Yorkshire Electricity where she was responsible for the Customer and Sales Strategy for the newly developed privatised consumer utility markets. Prior to that Jill was an independent financial adviser, following many years at Norwich Union advising on pensions and life insurance.

Jill is a member of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), the Institute of Finance Services (IFS) and Association of Business Psychology.

2021-22 Salary:
£120,000 - £125,000