Commissioner Nicholas (Jeff) served as a Naval Submarine Officer for 30 years in a wide variety of shipboard Operations and Command positions. Those included Major Staff Policy, Planning and Budget functions, serving as a Political-Military Affairs Officer for the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Balkan Campaign and serving as a senior leader in several high-profile Crisis Response Task Forces. Jeff retired from the Navy as a Captain in 2008.

After the US Navy, Jeff worked for FLIR Systems Inc., a manufacturer of advanced electro-optic camera systems. He was the Corporate Business Development Executive specializing in the capture, and ongoing customer support, of large complex Domestic and International contracts involving Military and Intelligence Grade Electro-Optical Sensor System Programs. Jeff retired from FLIR in late 2017. 

In 2016 he and his wife moved to Sequim where he now resides in the Diamond Point community. He became a volunteer with the District in 2018, serving as a volunteer Fire Support member and an Emergency Medical Technician. Jeff was elected to the Board in 2022 and his current term will expire in 2028.