Joe Pitt-Rashid is the Strategy and Policy Director at the Defence Nuclear Organisation in the Ministry of Defence. He is responsible for advising both the Ministry of Defence and the wider UK Government on nuclear deterrence policy, counter proliferation policy, and nuclear operational planning and analysis. He is also responsible for cohering cross-cutting projects for the nuclear enterprise as a whole to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of the organisation.
Prior to this post, he spent the majority of his career in HM Treasury, working on a range of economic, international, and security issues. He has also held posts in the Cabinet Office and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and assisted in establishing the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology.
Chris Heffer became Director, Nuclear Power and Decommissioning at the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) on 31st August 2021.
Chris was previously the Deputy Trade Commissioner for North-East Asia based in the British Embassy in Tokyo for six years where he was responsible for Trade and Investment across all sectors, including Nuclear. Before that he worked in Strategy and Customer Insight roles in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and Department of Health. He also led Drugs and
Alcohol Policy within the Public Health Directorate of the Health Department.
Prior to joining the Civil Service, Chris was a Senior Manager at Deloitte, working in variety of sectors, including Life Sciences, Manufacturing and Consumer Business in Japan, Germany, France and the US. He studied Engineering, Economics and Management at University, and was a Sponsored Engineer during that time at Ford Motor Company UK
Dr. Sarah B. Hiza is the vice president of Engineering & Technology at Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems (RMS). She currently leads a team of more than 14,000 engineers and scientists across the globe who are creating innovative technology solutions that advance deterrence and national security capabilities, such as helicopter programs, ship and aviation systems, cybersecurity, and C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) systems.
Recently, Dr. Hiza served as the vice president and general manager of the Strategic and Missile Defence Systems line of business at Lockheed Martin. In that role, she led a team of over 6,500 employees across 18 U.S. and U.K. sites who delivered strategic deterrence, missile defense, and hypersonic strike solutions to support the most critical missions for the US and her allies. She has and currently served on various boards for Lockheed Martin UK, Lockheed Martin UK Strategic Systems, Ltd., the US Strategic Deterrent Coalition, and NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School). Her technical expertise includes work in polymers and energetic materials, including explosives and rocket propellants, and missile and reentry hardware/subsystems.
