Simon is the Chief Executive of Winchester City Council, a post he has held since May 2003. Prior to that, he was Executive Director for Sustainability and Development at Southampton City Council, having previously worked in various policy roles in the Civil Service for 12 years.

Before he began his career in public administration, Simon was a Zoologist. Following graduation from Sheffield University he studied for a PhD in Animal Behaviour, and then worked as a Post Doctoral Research Fellow at Cambridge University.

Simon is a member of the SEERA Chief Executive’s Advisory Group, a Governor of the University of Winchester, Board Member of the Solent Centre for Architecture and Design Board, and leads for PUSH on the topic of ‘Creating Quality Places’, which includes a broad range of work on culture and creating PUSH’s ‘identity’.