Thomas leads the Tanzania project's technical assistance, research and capacity building on taxation, revenue management and restructuring of the national oil company. His previous work with NRGI involved leading the research on licensing and taxation for the Sierra Leone Natural Resource Charter benchmarking exercise and supporting the "Unlocking EITI Data for Meaningful Reforms" project.
 
Prior to joining NRGI, Thomas spent three years working in Sierra Leone's Ministry of Finance on extractive industry issues, first as an Overseas Development Institute fellow and then as an independent advisor. During this time, he supported the development of tax policy for the extractive industries, led the ministry's work on tax modeling for mining companies, and worked to improve intra-governmental coordination in these areas. Thomas has also worked with DFID as a member of the technical support team to improve governance and management of Sierra Leone’s extractive industries. He led an assessment of the institutional development and capacity needs of the Ministry of Mines, National Minerals Agency and National Revenue Authority. Thomas holds an M.Sc. in development economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and a B.A. honors in economics from the University of Nottingham.