Education
Paxman was educated at Malvern College and New College, Oxford, and joined the Civil Service in 1974. From 1978 to 1979, he attended the École nationale d"administration, Paris.
Paxman was educated at Malvern College and New College, Oxford, and joined the Civil Service in 1974. From 1978 to 1979, he attended the École nationale d"administration, Paris.
He worked in the Department of the Environment from 1974 to 1976. Afterwards, he worked for the Department of Transport, until 1980. From 1980 to 1984, Paxman served as the United Kingdom"s Permanent Representative to the European Commission for Environment, Consumer Affairs and the Internal Market in Brussels.
During the mid-eighties, Paxman worked for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, first in the European Community Department (External) between 1984–1986, then in the Southern European Department, between 1986-1988.
In 1988, he was appointed Head of Chancery at the British High Commission in Singapore, a position he held until 1991, when he took a position as Deputy Head of the Assessments Staff in the Cabinet Office, until 1993. Between 1994 and 1998, Paxman was the Counsellor of Economic and Commercial Affairs in Rome.
Between 1999 and 2002, Paxman worked with the United Kingdom Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels, after which, in 2002, he was appointed Minister and Deputy Head of Mission at the United Kingdom Embassy in Paris and Counsellor of Political and Institutional Affairs. On 16 June 2005, the United Kingdom Government announced that Paxman had been appointed Ambassador to the United Mexican States (Mexico).
He assumed the role as the Ambassador on 3 October 2005.
Only weeks later, on 25 October, he travelled to Cancún to oversee the evacuation of British nationals affected by Hurricane Wilma. Paxman became Ambassador to Spain on 19 October 2009.