The Met Office’s newly appointed Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee, Lynn Mawdsley, is a respected leader with extensive financial and commercial expertise across a broad range of industry sectors.
Alongside her Met Office appointment, Lynn is currently a Non-Executive Director and Chair of Audit and Risk for Ordnance Survey Limited. Her last executive role was as Chief Executive Officer of Interserve Support Services, a strategic government supplier, leading the business through the Covid-19 pandemic and a sale process. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and has a degree in Arabic and and Spanish from the University of Exeter.
The Non-Executive Directors support and challenge the Executive Directors of the Met Office in setting the organisation’s strategic objectives and delivering against agreed Key Performance Indicators. The Non-Executive Directors are encouraged to assist in raising external awareness of the Met Office and its work, and to build beneficial external relationships.
As Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee, Lynn will be responsible for providing advice to the Accounting Officer and the Met Office Board on various aspects of governance, risk management, and internal control across the organisation. This includes ensuring the effectiveness of internal and external audit arrangements, the integrity of financial reporting within the Annual Report and Accounts, and any other matters referred to the committee by the Accounting Officer or Board.
Additionally, the Chair of the ARAC plays a crucial role in overseeing the audit and risk management processes, ensuring that the organisation adheres to best practices and guidelines set by bodies such as the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and HM Treasury.
This appointment has been made in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments. The Met Office is an Executive Agency of DSIT.
Commenting on the appointment, Rob Woodward, Non-Executive Chair of the Met Office said: “Lynn is extremely well qualified to take on this important role on the Board of the Met Office. I have no doubt that the Board will benefit hugely by the wealth of experience that Lynn brings and in particular her proven track record in dealing with government owned organisations. In addition, she will provide a valuable commercial perspective to the Board.”
Prof. Penny Endersby, Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are delighted to welcome Lynn to the Met Office Board with her wealth of governance and government experience. As accounting officer, I hugely value the guidance of the Audit Committee to ensure that we are keeping the Met Office aligned to good practice in all aspects of compliance, and continuously learning from our own experiences and others”.
Lynn replaces Hunada Nouss after six years in the role.