After starting his professional career with McLaren Automotive as a Manufacturing Engineer, Ian James joined the Daimler group in 2005. He contributed to the reintroduction of KERS in 2011 and also played a part in the introduction of the V6/ERS Power Unit for Formula 1’s turbo-hybrid era, culminating in the 2014 and 2015 Drivers’ and Teams’ World Championships.

In 2019, Ian joined the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team as Team Principal and Managing Director of Mercedes-Benz Formula E Ltd. With Ian at the helm, the team won the Drivers’ and Team’s Championships in both Season 7 and Season 8 of the World Championship.

Since September 2022, Ian has been Team Principal of the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team and NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team, and Managing Director of NEOM McLaren Electric Racing, continuing to lead the team in Formula E and assuming responsibility for the NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team.

Since November 2024, Ian has assumed the role of Director of Motorsport at McLaren Automotive, in addition to his role within NEOM McLaren Electric Racing.