Sir Eric Malcolm Jones KCMG CB CBE (27 April 1907 – 24 December 1986) was a British intelligence officer who was director of the British signals intelligence agency, GCHQ from 1952 to 1960.^[1]

Born in Buxton in Derbyshire and educated at King's School, Macclesfield only to the age 15; for twenty years he worked in the family textile business in Macclesfield, and then in his own textile agency. He enlisted as a reservist in the Royal Air Force in 1940, and was posted to Air Ministry Intelligence. Sent to Bletchley Park in early 1942,^[2] he produced a report on the "dysfunctional" Hut 3; Edward Travis was so impressed that he was promoted to Group Captain and placed in charge of the hut. At Bletchley Park he spoke with "Cheshire vowels" and was not a "university man" so the "intellectual snobberies of Bletchley Park" worked against him; he was referred to as "The Manchester Businessman", and was believed to have something to do with biscuits!^[2]

But he was a success at solving the Army-Air force feud at Hut 3.^[1][2][3][4] From April 1943, Jones was the head of Hut 3, which was responsible for intelligence on the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe.^[2] Unlike the better-known code breakers, Jones did not bring a background in mathematics or cryptography. During the early phases of D-Day preparations, "Jones was sent in to investigate and wrote a report recognising there needed to be a multi-services approach. It is a report that won the war in many ways," according to David Kenyon, research historian and author of the 2019 book Bletchley Park and D-Day.^[1]

After the war, Jones was sent to Washington D.C. as representative of British Signals Intelligence.^[2] He was made deputy director of GCHQ in 1950, and director from April 1952 until 1960.^[2] Under Jones leadership, the intelligence material compiled by GCHQ was of significant benefit during the Suez Crisis of 1955; Jones received congratulations from Foreign Secretary Selwyn Lloyd.^[5]

In retirement he became a non-executive director of Simon Engineering.^[2]