The Executive Team is responsible for supporting the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) in running the NAO.
Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG)
Gareth Davies
Gareth Davies was appointed C&AG in June 2019. Before his appointment as C&AG, he was Head of Public Services at Mazars, a global accountancy firm specialising in audit, tax and advisory services. Prior to this, he was Managing Director of the Audit Commission’s Audit Practice. His experience spans financial and value for money audit, organisational leadership and Board governance. Gareth is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He is a non-executive Board member of the INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI), which supports Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) in developing countries to sustainably enhance their performance and capacity.
Executive Directors
Catherine Hope MacLellan
Catherine is responsible for the NAO’s people function and leads on organisational change, learning and development, and diversity and inclusion. With an international finance and management consulting background, she moved into HR to focus on people. Before joining the NAO in 2023, Catherine was responsible for the strategy and rollout of national talent initiatives at NHS England. She is a keen traveller and has lived and worked across five continents, including the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
Abdool Kara
Abdool is responsible for the NAO’s work with Government departments focused on local services, including housing, communities, education and health. He provides leadership on all areas of our work that touch on local government. He has over 34 years of experience working in local government and the wider public sector, including at four different councils, seven years at the Audit Commission, and an advisory stint at the Cabinet Office. From 2009 he was Chief Executive of Swale Borough Council before joining the NAO in 2017.
Daniel Lambauer
Daniel joined the NAO in 2009 as a performance measurement expert and helped to establish our local government value-for-money team. Before his appointment to the Executive Team, he led the development of the NAO’s value for-money workstream. Daniel is the Executive Director with responsibility for Strategy and Resources. He is also the NAO’s Chief Information Officer and Senior Information Responsible Owner (SIRO). Daniel is also an external member of the Audit Committee of the Office of the Auditor General Ireland. Before joining the NAO, Daniel worked in a range of sectors, including academia, management consultancy and the civil service.
Kate Mathers
Kate is responsible for the NAO’s work with Government departments focused on culture, justice and welfare. She also provides leadership to our financial audit specialists. Kate joined the NAO in 2000. She is a chartered accountant with many years’ experience auditing a wide range of public sector bodies. Kate held senior management positions in finance and operations while working on secondment at the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority and sits on the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales’ (ICAEW’s) Council.
Rebecca Sheeran
Rebecca is responsible for the NAO’s work with Government departments focused on the UK’s infrastructure as well as climate change and environment. She also provides leadership to the NAO’s value for money and investigations specialists. Rebecca has worked at the NAO since 2004. She is a chartered accountant with many years’ experience in both financial and value-for-money audit of a range of public sector bodies.
Max Tse
Max is responsible for the NAO’s work with departments that sit at the centre of government. He also leads the NAO’s work on making better use of our insights. Max joined the NAO in 2011. For five years, he led the NAO’s value for money audit of the Department for Work & Pensions, and more recently has been responsible for the NAO’s approach to digital transformation in government. Before joining the NAO, Max worked as a consultant with McKinsey & Co. He has worked in the UK and overseas in a range of sectors, including logistics, regulatory strategy, retail, climate finance and health.
See the Executive Team’s areas of responsibility in our organisation chart.
Read more about the governance of the NAO.
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