Joe Marshall
Formerly Chief Operating Officer and Director of Strategy at NCUB, Dr Joe Marshall took over as Chief Executive in summer 2018.
Prior to joining the National Centre, Dr Marshall has held a number of positions across government and university organisations. As an academic specialising in government education policy and practice he worked with a number of international agencies including UNESCO, WHO and the European Parliament.
A researcher at the University of Manchester, he went on to hold senior lectureship positions at Liverpool Hope University and University of Worcester before working for UK Sport (the government agency for elite sport) and then the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Rosalind Gill
Rosalind leads on NCUB’s policy programmes, as well as member engagement, communications and public affairs. Prior to joining NCUB, Rosalind worked as a Director at the University of Bedfordshire and researcher at Universities UK.
Stephen Jones
Stephen leads on our policy work related to research, development and innovation. Prior to joining NCUB, Stephen worked for a business representative organisation, and in macroeconomic forecasting.
Rowan King
Jorge Velez Ospina
Jorge works in our Policy and Engagement Team, conducting independent research in areas related to research, innovation and the labour market as well as working collaboratively with researchers and analysts at top UK universities and in the private sector.
Jorge is also an associate faculty at the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU, University of Sussex) and has also held positions as a lecturer and research fellow and has carried out commissioned research for the Interamerican Development Bank, Research England, and Ministries in Latin America and Spain. He holds a PhD, MSc and BSc in Economics.
Sarah-Jane Phelan
Sarah-Jane works in our Policy and Engagement Team, focusing on understanding the evolving relationship between the UK labour market and research, innovation and skills policy and practices across the higher education sector. She holds a PhD in International Development from the University of Sussex, a MSc in Economics from Yale University and an MMath in Mathematics from the University of Oxford, and has experience across the third sector (ILO, Innovations for Poverty Action) and private sector (PwC, Aviva, MetLife, the Palladium Group).
Nick Bowles
Nick manages NCUB’s member engagement and is driven to ensure that members are maximizing the benefits of their membership. Nick has worked in membership organisations for the last 15 years in account management, member engagement, member recruitment and stakeholder engagement from both operational and strategic perspectives. He has an extensive network across both the public and private sector and has a passion for championing diversity, equality, fairness and accessibility in the workforce.
Ingrid Strobl
Ingrid manages NCUB’s events. Before joining NCUB she organised conferences and meetings across the globe, in the private sector. Her passion is to connect humans in a meaningful way whether that’s online or in person.
Michaela Hopkins
Michaela is Universities Partnership Manager, supports university partnerships at NCUB, with a particular focus on delivering research and innovation outcomes through university-business engagement.
Prior to joining NCUB, Michaela headed up membership at Independent Higher Education, having previously led the membership team at BritishAmerican Business earlier in her career. She also spent nearly a decade working for Middlesex University, where a large part of her remit included fostering connections between industry and academia, primarily for the purposes of enhancing the employment prospects of students. She started her career in corporate communications working for global advisory firm, Brunswick Group LLP.
Anna Dent-Davies (Maternity Leave)
Anna supports university partnerships at NCUB, with a particular focus on delivering research and innovation outcomes through university-business engagement. Before joining NCUB, she worked as External Engagement Manager for a UK university with a particular focus on developing industry partnerships in the area of life sciences, education, and design.
Shivaun Meehan
Shivaun manages konfer’s communications and stakeholder engagement. She has extensive experience as a communications strategist and practitioner in the public, private and third sector, in a variety of industries including technology, logistics, broadcasting and academic publishing.
Louise Lilley
Louise leads NCUB’s operations and planning functions, ensuring the organisation operates effectively and remains agile in a rapidly changing environment. She joined NCUB in September 2019 and brings extensive senior leadership experience across membership organisations, as well as roles in the private and education sectors.
Katalin Rado
Katalin supports organisational planning at NCUB with a particular focus on project management. Before joining NCUB, she worked in operations and service development for several small UK charities as well as the NHS.
Robert Sorrell
Bob is an independent Technology and Policy Advisor. He chairs the NPL Science and Technology Advisory Committee and is a board member and chairs UKRPIF. Bob is the CEO of the Royce Hydrogen Accelerator and their hydrogen materials challenge lead. Prior to that he was BP’s Vice President for Research & Innovation for BP’s global Formulated Products (Fuels and Lubricants) Technology. He also served as BP’s technology policy advisor for the UK and EU. Bob joined BP in 1987 from Durham University having earlier completed his PhD at Cambridge University.
Ashlyn Hopper
Ashlyn supports NCUB’s Membership and Engagement team by providing high‑quality administrative, systems, and data support across CRM and konfer. She brings structure and clarity to complex workflows and strengthens digital operations across the organisation. Before joining NCUB, she coordinated operational teams in the non‑profit and housing sectors, streamlining processes, and supporting system improvements.
Andy Betts
Andy is the Technical Product Manager for konfer. He has over 15 years’ experience delivering AI, SaaS, and platform products. He led product teams in Central Government, The London Deanery, the Adecco Group, XCD and The Access Group, working on Salesforce and HR/recruitment technology platforms used by thousands of customers. Andy specialises in turning complex technical requirements into clear roadmaps, working closely with engineering teams to ship products that solve real business problems.