DSTL announces new CEO

December 2011

THE DEFENCE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY NAMES NEW CHIEF
EXECUTIVE
The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) has announced the successor to its
Chief Executive, Frances Saunders.
Jonathan Lyle, who is currently the Director of the Programme Office at Dstl, will take up the
appointment in March 2012.
Jonathan is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and
Technology. His first post in the Ministry of Defence (MOD) was at Portsdown and his early
career was spent in the maritime sector at Bath. In 1989 he moved to London and the air
sector where he undertook a number of costing and investment appraisal studies for future
aircraft systems.
In 1991 he joined the Office of Science and Technology in the Cabinet Office, leading work
on strengthening procurement of Science and Technology (S&T). He was involved in the
production of the 1993 S&T White Paper Realising our Potential and the restructuring of the
Research Councils. Subsequently, within the Department of Trade and Industry, he ran the
LINK collaborative research scheme.
In 1996, he returned to defence procurement, managing the VC10, Tucano and Dominie
programmes and then the A400M and C-17 transport aircraft projects.
In 2000 Jonathan was promoted to the Senior Civil Service and appointed leader of the
Future Offensive Air System Integrated Project Team (IPT). In 2002 he took over the Future
Strategic Tanker Aircraft IPT.
In 2004, on promotion to 2*, Jonathan was appointed Operations Director for the Defence
Procurement Agency’s (DPA) aircraft, weapon and helicopters projects and led the
helicopter and weapon sectors of the Defence Industrial Strategy.
At the inception of Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) in 2007, Jonathan was
appointed as Director General Helicopters, with responsibility for all new and in-service
helicopters. During 2008 and 2009, he was Director of the College of Management and
Technology at the Defence Academy, Shrivenham.
He was also Head of the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors from 2007 to 2011.
He was appointed to his present role in March 2010.
Frances Saunders, who has been the Chief Executive at Dstl for five years, announced her
intention to stand down in June. She congratulated Jonathan on his appointment:
“These are interesting times for Dstl. The Trading Fund review laid out a much clearer
revised role for us and Jonathan now faces the challenge of leading Dstl through a very
important time in Defence Transformation. The organisation has the ability to make a real
difference to the defence and security of the UK and I am confident Jonathan can ably lead
Dstl through its next phase of development”.

Notes to editors

Dstl
The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) maximises the impact of science
and technology (S&T) for the defence and security of the UK.
It supplies sensitive and specialist S&T services for the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and wider
government, and leads and undertakes those activities that it would be inappropriate to carry
out in the private sector.
Dstl is a trading fund of the MOD and is run on commercial lines. It has a turnover of some
£550 million much of which is spent in industry and academia.
Dstl is the largest scientific organisation within government, with around 3,500 scientists,
technologists and engineers at its three main sites: Porton Down, near Salisbury, Portsdown
West, near Portsmouth, and Fort Halstead, near Sevenoaks.

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