Jonathan started in Local Government at Cambridgeshire Council as graduate trainee in 1999, qualifing as a chartered accountant in 2003 working across Social Care and Children’s Services. Jonathan joined Peterborough City Council in 2007 as Assistant Director Resources for Children’s Service, delivering an ambitious £190 million schools capital programme to support the rapidly growing population in the city and commissioning services. In 2011, he added the challenge of leading the education department and Peterborough was the most improved Ofsted authority in 2013/14 and was judged by Ofsted in March 2014 as having an effective school improvement service – only the second authority nationally to receive a positive outcome in this type of inspection at first inspection.

He moved to Northamptonshire in 2015 as Assistant Director (Education) before moving to the Department for Education in 2016 as Deputy Director for the Regional School Commissioner for the East of England and North East London.  From 2018 to 2024, he led Education across both Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Local Authorities – overseeing 350 schools and a combined budget of around £1bn.  In 2024, he started as Chief Finance and Operating Office for Diamond Learning Partnership, a multi-academy Trust of 15 schools across Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.