 He joined the civil service and became Permanent Secretary (Education Development) for the Ministry of Education in 2013, after retiring from the Singapore Armed Forces as its seventh Chief of Defence Force.Neo received his secondary education in Victoria School, where he was also a National Cadet Corps cadet, After his pre-university education in Nanyang Junior College, he was awarded the Singapore Armed Forces Overseas Scholarship in 1985 and graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering (Upper Second Class Honours) degree in electrical and electronic engineering from King's College London.He subsequently completed a Master of Science degree in management of technology from the MIT Sloan School of Management.