Kate Josephs CB joined Sheffield City Council as Chief Executive in January 2021, having spent 20 years in national government in the UK and United States.

Since arriving in Sheffield Kate has overseen the creation of an ambitious, outcome focussed one-year plan to guide the city’s recovery from COVID; initiated a wide-ranging programme of self-reflection and culture change in the Council; and partnered with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation to support an innovative project to reimagine Sheffield’s future, engaging a diverse range of citizens.  Following the May 2021 elections, she has supported the city’s new Labour-Green Cooperative Executive administration to deliver on their shared priorities alongside preparing the ground for the shift to a committee system of council governance from May 2022.  Kate is an active member of core cities taking a lead role on CCUK work on climate change and net zero, specifically the UK cities climate investment commission.

Kate’s career as a senior leader in the UK civil service included positions in HM Treasury; the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit; and the Department for Education (DfE).  Kate joined Sheffield from the Cabinet Office’s COVID 19 Taskforce where she was Director General; in June 2021 she was awarded Companion status, The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, in the Queen’s birthday honours in recognition of exemplary public service during her civil service career.

Kate also spent time living in Washington D.C. working for the US Federal Government during the Obama Administration, including as Executive Director of the White House Performance Improvement Council, working across US Government Agencies – on priorities from veterans’ affairs to STEM education – with a mission to advance and expand the practice of performance analytics and improvement.

Kate grew up and went to comprehensive school in Doncaster, was educated at Oxford University and the London School of Economics, and lives in Sheffield with her husband and two young children.