Julia joined as NWAS chair on 1 July 2025.

In addition to NWAS, Julia holds several senior leadership roles including chair of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), set up to protect workers after the Morecambe Bay cockle picker tragedy. She is also the senior independent director for the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), as well as chair of trustees for IDAS, one of the north’s largest specialist domestic and sexual abuse charities. For the past five years, she has been an independent member of the parole board, where she sits on the Audit and Risk Committee.

Before taking up these positions, Julia ran a business primarily working with the NHS on health inequalities and between 2012-2021, she served as a Police, Fire and Crime commissioner.