Cdre Boyes took up post as the Director of Submarines Acquisition from April 2024 on an interim basis. In that role he is accountable for strategically aligning, maintaining and leading the submarine acquisition pipeline to enable delivery of individual submarine build projects. This currently includes the completion of the Astute submarine build programme, supporting the delivery of the Dreadnought programme, to renew the UK strategic nuclear deterrent, and the design of a new attack Submarine for the UK and Australia – the SSN-AUKUS programme.

A Marine Engineer Submariner by training, Commodore Boyes’ early career and appointments centred around operational delivery, including sea going appointments serving in Swiftsure and Trafalgar class submarines. On completion of his sea going appointments, he moved to the Fleet Operations organisation, providing technical and engineering support to the Submarine Fleet, and maritime advice and services to other Government Departments. Following a couple of years leading emerging technology development programmes for the maritime, he then undertook two engineering Operational Support roles delivering to the submarine flotilla.

He subsequently moved into roles with a greater programme management focus, first as the Business improvement lead for the Nuclear Propulsion team, responsible for Programme and Product Delivery improvement and Customer Assurance, and secondly as the Programme Deputy Head for the In-Service Submarines Delivery Team, accountable for the delivery of submarines that are Safe to Operate through the coordination and planning of the pan-enterprise submarine maintenance programme.

From Jun 21 to Mar 24, Commodore Boyes headed the Dreadnought Supply and Support Team, responsible for delivery of Government procured equipment into the Dreadnought programme and also the establishment and delivery of the projects and investments needed across lines of development to enable Dreadnought’s transition into service.

Commodore Boyes is a chartered engineer and a Member of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology, and a graduate of the Cranfield MBA and more recently the IPA’s Major Projects Leadership Academy programme.