Prior to joining International Risk in 2006 Ivan was responsible for security issues, crisis management and disaster recovery/business continuity for an IT consultancy firm in the financial services sector in the City of London. Prior to this Ivan worked in Baghdad from 2003 to 2005 where he was initially responsible for executive protection services to press and senior military officers before moving to the recruitment and management of the Oil Protection Force (OPF). In this position, Ivan was the national training officer for an armed security force of 15,000 men and, with the equivalent rank of Colonel was in joint operational command of 5,000 officers and men of the Central Region OPF and personal operational command of 1,200 men. He provided armed, paramilitary security, including mobile and air assets, for 15-months during the insurgency for fifty fixed sites and six hundred kilometres of pipelines comprising the natural gas and petrochemical infrastructure in the centre of Iraq. His team also set up an active local intelligence cell, worked closely with Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition Forces, and acted as liaison between the US military and Iraqi ministry officials. In 2005 Ivan left Iraq to become the Special Projects Manager for a security firm based in Hereford, UK.

Ivan is a former British Army officer. He worked and trained with the armed services from many NATO countries, including several specialist units from the US Army and USMC. He completed operational tours in Northern Ireland and in the Balkans before leaving the army in 1997.

Ivan holds an MA in Modern Languages (French & German) and Law from Cambridge University and has a background in accountancy and IT project management. He is a member of the American Society for Industrial Security.