Nick Elliott CB MBE

Chief Executive Officer

Nick Elliott joined AWE as Chief Executive Officer in March 2024.

Nick is an experienced senior business leader, having led major delivery organisations in defence, infrastructure, and government – including the UK Vaccine Taskforce where he was Director General during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nick began a distinguished career in defence serving in the Royal Engineers. In subsequent senior business roles, he has been responsible for delivering some of the biggest rail infrastructure projects in the UK. He was also Deputy CEO of Defence Equipment & Support, the professional acquisition and support organisation of the UK Ministry of Defence.

Nick has been a non-executive director on the Board of the Submarine Delivery Agency and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. He is currently a non-executive director of Helsing Ltd, a software and Artificial Intelligence company.

He is a serving member of the Staff Corps, and a Fellow of the Institute of Directors, the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply, the Chartered Management Institute, and the Institute of Royal Engineers.

Latest news

Detecting the undetectable

At AWE Blacknest, experts in forensic seismology work behind the scenes to support the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Their mission? To detect and verify potential nuclear tests worldwide by analysing seismic data. Our seismologists play a key role in upholding global security and arms control through cutting-edge research, international collaboration, and advanced monitoring techniques.

AWE physicists celebrated at STEM for Britain 2025

Two aspiring physicists from AWE were recently honoured as finalists at the prestigious STEM for Britain 2025 event, an annual competition which provides a unique platform for early career research scientists, engineers and mathematicians to present ground-breaking work to policymakers, industry leaders and academics. This is the third year AWE has sponsored the event, demonstrating […]

William Penney Fellow appointed to full professor

We are delighted to announce that Mark Whiting, one of our esteemed William Penney Fellows, has been promoted to full professor at the University of Surrey – a key strategic partner for AWE.