David Bolt has worked in intelligence for approximately thirty years. He has wide experience of intelligence collection, assessment and exploitation, initially in the national security field, principally counterterrorism and, since 1999, in the field of serious organised crime.

In 2001, David was seconded to the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), taking up the newly-created post of Director of Strategic Intelligence, in which capacity he assumed responsibility for the annual assessment of the threat from serious and organised crime, better known as the United Kingdom Threat Assessment (UKTA). He has retained this responsibility into SOCA.

In 2002, David was appointed Deputy Director General of NCIS with responsibility for corporate governance, business strategy, and discipline, as well as for the development of NCIS' strategic intelligence capability.

In 2005, David was appointed Executive Director Intelligence for the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), taking up the position full-time on 1 April 2006. The Intelligence Directorate is responsible for receiving, storing, assessing, and actioning information, and for deploying a variety of sensitive techniques to acquire intelligence covertly.