From 1924 to 1926, he served as assistant secretary of the National Health Insurance Commission and was responsible for organising emergency arrangements for Scotland during the 1926 General Strike. In 1930, he returned to the Scottish Education Department as second secretary and became permanent secretary in 1936. In 1938, he was seconded to the Food (Defence Plans) Department, preparing for food control on the inevitable outbreak of the Second World War. When the war came, he was appointed chief divisional food controller for Scotland and held the post until his retirement in 1946.