Hood was educated at Lord Williams's School, a comprehensive in Thame, Oxfordshire, and at Oxford and London universities.
Hood is a founding partner at Oxford Research & Analysis, which is a consultancy specialising in complex international investigations and litigation.
[6] In 1996 Hood led the team working with Robin Cook on the Labour Party's response to the Scott Inquiry.
He worked closely with Cook on Labour's preparations for British transfer of Hong Kong's sovereignty to China in 1997.
[7][8] In 2020, Hood was appointed as lead non-executive director of the Department for International Trade, taking over the role from Simon Walker.