Hugh Goyder originally trained as an economist, then worked as a UN volunteer in India, before joining Oxfam in 1976. He worked as an Oxfam Country Director, first in India, and subsequently in Ethiopia, where he led Oxfam's response to the 1984 famine. On returning to the UK he worked for Oxfam on evaluation issues, and in 1992 joined Action Aid UK, initially as their Coordinator for West & Southern Africa, and later as their first Coordinator for Impact Assessment. He became an independent consultant and INTRAC Associate in 1998.

In his consultancy work he combines evaluations of development projects with the evaluation of humanitarian work, and has a particular interest in the transition between relief, rehabilitation, and development (LRRD). For INTRAC he was Team Leader of the DEC Evaluation of the Orissa Cyclone Response in 1999, led a study of LRRD for the Tsunami Evaluation Coalition in 2005, and undertook an evaluation of Irish Aid’s response to the Tsunami in 2006.

He has considerable experience of the UN system and recently led a Country Programme Evaluation of UNICEF Sri Lanka. He has also done evaluations for UNDP in Indonesia and in 2005 was Team Leader for WFP's 'Real Time' Evaluation of their Tsunami Response.

Hugh has a strong interest in the role of faith-based organisations in relief and development. He has undertaken three separate evaluations of Tearfund's emergency and rehabilitation work in Southern Africa, Ethiopia, and Liberia. and two evaluations for CAFOD in Southern Africa and Sri Lanka. In 2007 he led INTRAC's Review of the Irish Missionary Resource Service, funded by Irish Aid.