Diana Murray has worked in the cultural and historic environment sector for over 40 years. She was Chief Executive of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland and latterly, joint CEO of Historic Scotland (HS), managing a major change programme until October 2015 in preparation for when the new body, Historic Environment Scotland, took over the roles of both these two successful heritage organisations. She retired from HES at the end of 2016.

She has extensive experience of governance in the charity sector. For many years she was a non-executive director of the National Trust for Scotland and the Scottish Waterways Trust. She has served as a Trustee of the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, the Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick, and was the Chair of Arts and Business Scotland until 2022. She is currently a Trustee of the Scottish International Education Trust, and, in 2023, was appointed to the Scottish Committee of the National Lottery Heritage Fund