Director General, Defence and Intelligence

Jonathan Allen CMG

Biography

Jonathan Allen is Director General, Defence and Intelligence at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).

Jonathan was Director General for Strategy on secondment to the UK national security community from June 2021 to February 2024. He was the UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York from August 2017 to June 2021 including Acting Permanent Representative from March 2020 to December 2020. Jonathan was the Director, National Security at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) from 2015 until 2017.

In 2006, Jonathan was seconded to the Home Office as Assistant Director in the Home Office’s International Directorate. In 2007 he moved to the Office for Security and Counter-terrorism (OSCT), where he established and led the Research Information and Communications Unit (RICU), a cross-departmental strategic communications body.

Jonathan joined the FCO in 1997 and began his career in Europe Directorate working on EU issues. He was subsequently posted to Cyprus and Brussels, where he was government spokesman during the UK Presidency in 2005.

Jonathan was awarded the CMG in the 2021 New Years Honours List.

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Director General, Defence and Intelligence

The Director General is responsible for the delivery of UK policy for the FCDO response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and for Eastern Europe and Central Asia policy. The Director General is also responsible, globally, for issues relating to:

  • defence, intelligence and national security
  • crisis management
  • consular services
  • strategic communications

As a board member, the Director General also gives corporate leadership to the FCDO by ensuring that the department meets the international policy priorities, Public Service Agreements targets and service delivery targets set by ministers.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

Previous roles in government

  • Deputy Permanent Representative, UK Mission to the UN, New York
  • Director General, Defence and Intelligence (Acting)
  • British Ambassador to Bulgaria