He replaces outgoing senior independent director Mark Elliott and will, upon appointment, also become a non-executive director of the G4S board.
Commenting on the new appointment, G4S chair John Connolly said: “I am delighted to welcome Steve Mogford to the board.
“His broad experience in senior executive and non-executive board roles, including his extensive involvement with businesses in international markets, will be extremely valuable to our board and will broaden the capabilities and experience of our board of directors.”
Before joining United Utilities, Mogford was chief executive of SELEX Galileo – a subsidiary of Italian defence and security company Finmeccanica.
Prior to that, he was at British Aerospace (BAE), where he held a number of senior positions before being appointed as chief operating officer and a member of the BAE Systems board between 2000 and 2007.
He was also senior independent director with Carillion until December 2015, when he retired from the Carillion board after serving nine years.