Highfield joined the BBC in 2000 and is in charge of the corporation's online and cross platform content and his impact has been considerable. His position atop the poll is evidence of the regard in which the panel holds the BBC and their belief that the corporation's global reach is truly setting the agenda - in terms of innovation, penetration and ambition.

Highfield has a view of a 100 per cent digital Britain and is committed to the idea that the BBC will be the driving force behind the realisation of that vision.

He will also have to handle more than his fair share of criticism in a job that requires a thick skin and broad shoulders. Constant calls for change and a need to repeatedly justify the vast budget he controls means Highfield will never be far from the politics which are part and parcel of any job within the BBC.

Our panel sees Highfield's success so far as the reason new media's been put on equal footing with the BBC TV and radio divisions and expects he'll be in a particularly hot spotlight over the next two years in the run-up to BBC's Charter review.

Highfield is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA), a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and special advisor and committee member of the Science Museum in London. His background is in pay-TV, working for Flextech where he was managing director of Flextech Interactive. Following the company's merger with Telewest he also took over the running of Blueyonder, the cable giant's broadband service.