After brief periods working for ICI and the Civil Service College in the early 1970s, most of Richard's career was spent in the Department of Employment Group, including spells as Director of Conciliation for ACAS, and creating the Health and Safety Executive’s Offshore Safety Division following the Piper Alpha disaster. He led a Cabinet Office review into the use of consultants across Government in the mid 1990s, and then joined the Department of Education on its merger with Employment. He led its Strategy Division for 4 years, before joining the Schools Directorate and taking particular responsibility for the newly created National College for School Leadership. He retired from DfES in 2004.