Martin is an Associate Professor in Public Management at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, and Research Fellow at Green Templeton College.

His research is on management, policy implementation, and political economy, mostly focused on Africa. His work involves close collaboration with governments to answer questions that are of interest to policymakers and academics alike, such as why some ministries work better than others, why many development projects never get finished, and what can be done to improve performance.

Prior to joining the Blavatnik School, Martin was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University College London, Department of Economics, and completed his PhD in the Government Department at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Martin previously worked as an economist in Ghana's Ministry of Trade and Industry as an Overseas Development Institute Fellow and was a Senior Researcher at the Economic Policy Research Institute in Cape Town. Martin also holds MSc degrees in African Studies and Economics for Development from Oxford University, and a BA in Economics from Williams College.