Naomi Climer


Naomi Wendy Climer CBE FREng, FIET is a British engineer who has worked in broadcast, media and communications technology chiefly at the BBC and Sony Professional Solutions, and was the first female President of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Early life

Climer attended Gainsborough High School and Imperial College London, gaining a joint-degree in 1986 of Chemistry with Management Science.

Career

Climer is a Trustee of the Royal Academy of Engineering, is a Non Executive Director on the Boards of Focusrite plc and , chairs the Council of the International Broadcasting Convention, is a non executive on the Board of Sony UK Technology Centre and is Co-Chair of the . She is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and was a Trustee of the Institution of Engineering and Technology from 2009–2017, Deputy President from 2012, President from Sept 2015Naomi Climer#cite note-6| and Immediate Past President from Sept 2016-Sept 2017. Climer was the subject of BBC Radio 4's The Life ScientificNaomi Climer#cite note-7| and promoted the importance of engineering and the need for diversity in engineering across numerous media appearances.Naomi Climer#cite note-auto-3|Naomi Climer#cite note-8|Naomi Climer#cite note-9|Naomi Climer#cite note-10|Naomi Climer#cite note-11|
From 2012, she moved to California to be President of Sony's Media Cloud Services start-up business, returning to the UK in 2015 to take up the Presidency of the IET.
Climer joined Sony Professional Solutions Europe in 2002 as Director of Professional Services and became Vice President running the whole business from 2006 – 2012. During this time, she oversaw the move to new markets, the acquisition of Hawk-Eye for sports business, pushed Sony's sustainability agenda and started the 50:50 campaign for gender diversity.
Climer was Director of Technical Operations from 2000-02 of ITV Digital. ITV Digital ceased in June 2002 with Freeview being created in October 2002.
Climer joined the BBC in 1987 as an engineer, training in the same cohort as Kate Bellingham. She worked in BBC Broadcasting House and BBC World Service at Bush House before becoming Controller of Technology at BBC News. From 1998 to 2000, she was also a Director of the Parliamentary Broadcasting Unit.
From 2016–2017, Climer chaired the DCMS Future Communications Challenge Group,Naomi Climer#cite note-4| and was a commissioner on the independent commission on the Future of Work.Naomi Climer#cite note-5| She is currently on the UK Government's Science and Technology Awards Committee.

Awards

Climer has been awarded honorary degrees from Huddersfield, Southampton Solent, Bradford and University of Wolverhampton.
In 2014 she won the International Association of Broadcast Manufacturers Broadcast Industry's Woman of the Year Award.
She was also named as one of the Top 50 Influential Women in Engineering in the UK by the Daily Telegraph and 2016 and one of the top 50 most influential women in IT in the UK by Computer Weekly in 2015 and 2016.
In 2017 she presented the Higginson Lecture at Durham University.
She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to services to the engineering profession in the 2018 Birthday Honours List.

Personal life

She married Carl Schofield in 2008. She has one step-daughter.