自1994年以来，詹姆斯一直是伦敦玛丽女王大学软物质小组的负责人。他的研究小组目前是英国最大的此类小组，由14名博士后研究人员和博士生组成。詹姆斯自2020年以来一直是英国皇家工程院院士，自2009年以来一直是国家教学研究员。他在材料界的工作得到了认可，获得了TB Marsden专业奖章2024年，George Stafford Whitby奖 2021年，Colwyn奖章2009年和Sparks-Thomas奖2010年。自1995年以来，James一直担任IOM3弹性体集团的领导角色，与他一起组织了100多场橡胶社区感兴趣的讨论会议和会议。2019年国际橡胶会议（伦敦）、2014年橡胶大会（曼彻斯特）和2023年橡胶大会（爱丁堡）的主席。

他自2013年起担任国际橡胶会议组织英国国家代表。他是《塑料、橡胶和复合材料：大分子工程》和《橡胶化学与技术》的副主编，自2000年之前以来一直是IOM3聚合物集团的领导团队成员。

James has been the Head of the Soft Matter Group at Queen Mary University of London since 1994. His research group is currently the largest such group in the UK with a team of 14 postdoctoral researchers and PhD students.

James has been a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering since 2020 and a National Teaching Fellow since 2009. He has been recognised for his work in the materials community by the award of the T B Marsden Professional Medal (by the IOM3, 2024), the George Stafford Whitby Award (by the ACS, 2021), the Colwyn Medal (by the IOM3, 2009) and the Sparks-Thomas Award (by the ACS, 2010).

James has been in a leadership role of the IOM3 Elastomer Group since 1995, with whom he has organised more than 100 discussion meetings and conferences of interest to the rubber community. He was the Chairman of European Conference on Constitutive Modelling of Rubber 2003 (in London), the International Rubber Conference 2019 (in London), RubberCon 2014 (in Manchester) and RubberCon 2023 (in Edinburgh). He will be the Chairman of the next European Conference on Constitutive Modelling of Rubber 2026 (in Oxford).

He is the UK's International Rubber Conference Organisation national representative since 2013. He is the associate editor of "Plastics, Rubber and Composites: Macromolecular Engineering" and "Rubber Chemistry and Technology" and has been on the leadership team of the IOM3 Polymer Group since before 2000.

James previously designed suspension components for an automotive industry supply company, designing systems for companies such as Jaguar, Volvo and Mercedes.