From the years 1978–1985, he was educated at Hymers College,[3] an independent day school in Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire in Northern England, where he was taught Ancient Greek by Larry Trewartha and Gerald Thompson.

[3] Kittmer joined the civil service in 1993, first at the Department for Education and Employment before moving to the UK's Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels in 1998 as a First Secretary.

[2] Kittmer served as the British Ambassador to Greece from January 2013 until December 2016.

In June 2017, he left this post on a career break to continue his academic studies.

Kittmer currently sits on the board of directors of the Greek oil tanker company Okeanis.