Dame Melanie Dawes joined Ofcom as an Executive Board Member and Chief Executive in March 2020. Prior to joining Ofcom, Melanie was Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government from 2015. She has held a range of senior roles across the Civil Service, working in partnership across the public and private sector, including as Champion for Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion.

She started her career as an economist and spent 15 years at the Treasury, including as Europe Director between 2002 and 2006. She was Director General of the Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat at the Cabinet Office between 2011 and 2015, and prior to that she served on the Board of HMRC. As Director General for Business Tax she had responsibility for all the business taxes and duties alongside leadership of the department’s relationships with the largest companies.

Melanie has held various non-executive roles including with the consumer body Which? and is a trustee of the Patchwork Foundation, which helps under-represented young people get involved in democracy.