Having secured promotion as Deputy Senior Partner, Bowman moved to Bucharest in 2002, where he engaged with KPMG's operations in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), with a particular focus on Romania and Moldova.

[2][5] Bowman took up a role as Deputy Senior Partner of KPMG's operations in Romania and Moldova, as well as the wider Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region, serving on the Supervisory Committee of the latter.

[3] In a declaration of financial interests, he is listed as a shareholder in a wide range of companies, most substantially in Glasgow-based quality assurance firm Tenairvia Consulting Ltd, dissolved in November 2017, for which he owned 100% of shares.

[2] He "took up an active interest in politics" shortly afterwards and was subsequently selected as the Conservative Party candidate for the Dundee East constituency in August 2014 to fight the upcoming general election of the following year.

[17][18] Having joined the Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Committee, Bowman soon came under scrutiny by opposition politicians for selling nearly £30,000 worth of British American Tobacco shares on 12 January 2017, with Labour speculating whether he had done so on Scottish Conservatives leader Ruth Davidson's recommendation, perhaps in order to avoid public concern over vested interests.

"[19] Otherwise unusual for MSPs, he does not claim public funds to maintain a second abode in Edinburgh, the location of the Scottish Parliament, owing to his constituency's relative proximity to the legislature;[9] that said, Bowman attracted further criticism after lodging £1,601 and £13,483 in dining and hotel accommodation expenses, respectively, dating from his accession to September 2018.

On 18 March, his last speech to the legislature addressed the challenges Scottish parliamentarians faced owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, raising concerns over and urging established MSPs to "bring new members on board in what is a much more virtual Parliament these days".

[22][23] In this capacity, a parliamentary question tabled by Bowman to the Scottish Government in June 2018 first revealed that national business rates were taxing firms £200m more than those operating under English regulations.

[24] Bowman is also a constituent of the Cross-Party parliamentary groups on Building Bridges with Israel, Culture, and Scotch Whisky, further serving as Deputy Chair of the Scottish Commission for Public Audit.