Moira joined the London Borough of Camden as chief executive in July 2003. Previously she was executive director, Housing and Social Services, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. As well as working for a number of local authorities, she has worked as a lecturer in social work at the then Preston Polytechnic, now the University of Lancashire. She was also a visiting lecturer at the London School of Economics. Before training as a social worker at Edinburgh University, she was a teacher in London and in Brussels.

She is a graduate of Glasgow University. She was president of the Association of Directors of Social Services in 2000/01 and was appointed CBE for Services to Social Services in the 2001.

She has served on a number of bodies, including the Lifting the Burdens Task Force, is currently a Director of the London Marathon and sits on the board of the UK Statistics Authority.