Educated at Churcher's College and Durham University, Snow joined the Royal Navy in 1976.
[1] He went on to be commanding officer of the frigate HMS Coventry in 1998, Assistant Director, Partnerships and International Relationships (Navy) at the Ministry of Defence in 2000 and Operations Team Leader at Permanent Joint Headquarters, Northwood, during the War in Afghanistan, in 2001.
[1] He went on to be Assistant Chief of Staff, Programmes and Resources at Fleet Headquarters in 2002, Director of Naval Resources and Plans at the Ministry of Defence in 2004 and commanding officer of the helicopter carrier HMS Ocean in 2005.
[1] After that he became Senior Naval Member of the Directing Staff at the Royal College of Defence Studies in 2007, Deputy Commander Naval Striking Forces at NATO in 2008 and Flag Officer Sea Training in 2009 before retiring in 2011.
[2] Snow was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his services in relation to the War in Afghanistan in October 2002.