Our Senior Leadership Team

CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Peter Cheese, Chartered FCIPD

Alongside his role as CIPD Chief Executive, Peter sits on many forums linked to wellbeing, diversity and inclusion, routes in to work and skills, flexible working, and corporate governance. He is Chair of Engage for Success and the What Works Centre for Wellbeing, and sits on the Board of the College of Policing.

Peter writes and speaks widely on the development of HR, the future of work, and the key issues of leadership, culture and organisation, people and skills.

Before joining the CIPD in 2012, Peter was Chair of the Institute of Leadership and Management, an Executive Fellow at London Business School, and held a number of board-level roles. He had a long career in consulting at Accenture working with organisations around the world and, in his last seven years there, was Global Managing Director for the firm’s human capital and organisation consulting practice.

He is a Fellow of the CIPD, AHRI (the Australian HR Institute), the Royal Society of Arts, and the Academy of Social Sciences. He’s also a Companion of the Institute of Leadership and Management, the Chartered Management Institute and the British Academy of Management. He holds honorary doctorates from Bath University, Kingston University and Birmingham City University, and is a Visiting Professor at Aston University and Unitar University, Malaysia.

DIRECTOR OF LEGAL AND GOVERNANCE, AND INSTITUTE SECRETARY

Angela Attah

Angela joined the CIPD in September 2019.  As part of her role, she is also Company Secretary for the CIPD and our subsidiaries. This includes supporting our Board to ensure proper oversight of the organisation’s activities and compliance with our legal and regulatory obligations. In addition to corporate governance, her teams are responsible for legal and contracting, risk management, procurement and the Code of Professional Conduct and work in support of ethics for our members.

Angela is legally qualified and a Fellow of the Chartered Governance Institute. She has over 25 years’ company secretarial/senior governance experience across several sectors and organisations, including the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and the Financial Conduct Authority. Angela also holds several voluntary governance roles.

Director of Profession

David D'Souza

David is responsible for growing our membership and ensuring a strong connection with the profession, enabling us to understand how to continually improve our support for our members. Before joining the CIPD, David worked as an independent consultant, having held previous roles across a range of financial services and retail organisations.

Described as one of the UK’s most influential HR and workplace commentators, David is a respected and in-demand speaker and writer on progressive HR and business practice. He has expertise in a wide range of areas, including organisational development and culture, learning and development, corporate ethics, employee engagement and the future of work. 

David is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD, the Australian HR Institute, the Centre for Evidence-Based Management and a Fellow and Trustee Board Member of the Royal Society of Arts.

Director of Professional Development

Victoria Winkler

Victoria has overall responsibility for our professional standards and membership framework. She leads both the design and development of our professional standards and CPD, assessment and qualifications strategy. She’s responsible for ensuring that our professional designations and qualifications are of the highest standard and quality.

Victoria joined the CIPD in 2003, initially leading research in the field of learning, development and talent management. Before this she held a number of roles across the charity and publishing sectors, with a focus on learning and professional skills development. Victoria is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD.