Nigel is currently the Branch Head for SOCA Knowledge and Tasking - responsible for both Drugs and Criminal Businesses. This involves the strategic planning and oversight of SOCA teams involved in building knowledge and tasking operations across the four drugs programmes, criminal businesses, prisons and criminal finances. He also leads for SOCA on developing law enforcement's intelligence relationship for the "5 Eyes" community (UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand).

Nigel joined SOCA at its inception in 2006, as the Branch Head for Fraud and Other Threats. Prior to this, he worked for HM Revenue & Customs (formerly HM Customs & Excise) for twenty years, spending four years of that on secondment to the Foreign Office.

Between 2002 and 2006, Nigel held the posts of Assistant Chief Investigation Officer (ACIO) for Financial Intelligence and Assistant Head of Intelligence (AHOI) for the Tobacco Branch of the newly merged HM Revenue and Customs. In all these roles he was responsible for creating new structures and introducing new working practices to promote the more effective sharing of information and closer inter-agency working.