Mark Buckingham is a Partner within our High-Risk Managed Services practice and Operations Director for our business in Iraq. He manages Control Risks’ offices in Basra, Baghdad, and Erbil, where he provides security, operational, and political risk management advice and services to our Iraq-based clients. Mark primarily works with oil and gas majors, also supporting diplomatic entities, reconstruction and development agencies, and NGOs.
Mark’s clients typically seek to enter high-risk, volatile markets and require solutions that enable a secure operating environment to achieve their commercial objectives safely. He delivers practical answers to complex problems, enabling clients to access markets that would otherwise remain out of reach.
Recent engagements include:
- Developing a robust security framework for a longstanding client seeking to enter a region in Western Iraq notorious for failed operations due to instability, volatility, limited infrastructure, and remoteness
- Overseeing the design and execution of a large-scale, nationwide evacuation framework, co-ordinating convoy movements across multiple regions and jurisdictions, following a sudden escalation of hostilities in the Middle East
- Developing a comprehensive security and operational framework in a high-risk environment for a client with no prior experience in the area, supporting a critical government defence programme
Over 14 years, Mark has contributed at every level of HRMS delivery at Control Risks. He offers clients a pragmatic, end-to-end perspective that builds trust, ensures continuity, and provides confidence.
Mark enjoyed a successful career in the British Army as a Senior non-commissioned officer in the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment. He subsequently transitioned into security and risk management, leading several major oil and gas projects in Iraq before moving to Mozambique to lead operations and expand HRMS in a new market.
He holds an MSc in Organisational Resilience from Buckinghamshire New University and is a member of the International Security Management Institute and a Certified Security Management