Debbie Alder
Biography
Debbie Alder was appointed as Director General Corporate Transformation in August 2023, based in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). She has accountability for Estates and Major Change Projects that are internally focused on Corporate Services.
Before taking on this role, Debbie was Director General People, Capability and Place for DWP since 2020, having first joined the Executive Team in the department as Director General of Human Resources in January 2014.
Debbie began her career in the private sector in HR with 21 years of experience across retail, manufacturing and consultancy in the UK, Europe and North America. Starting in Marks and Spencer, she then moved to Ford Motor Company before working in consultancy. Debbie joined the Civil Service in 2009, and has been Group HR Director for Defra and Group HR Director for Ministry of Justice.
She was invited to become a Chartered Companion of The Institute of Personnel and Development in 2019 having previously led the HR professional development across the Civil Service, chairing the Civil Service HR Capability Board for 5 years.
Debbie is a Steering Group member of the Movement to Work charity. She has previously been a Trustee of the Whitehall and Industry Group.
Debbie is a Senior Independent Director in Common across Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust & Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust.
Previous roles in government
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Non-Executive Director, BPDTS – 2016 to 2019
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Director General, People Capability and Place – 2020 to 2023
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Director General, Human Resources – 2014 to 2019
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Group HR Director, Ministry of Justice
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Group HR Director, Defra
Director General, Corporate Transformation
The Director General, Corporate Transformation sets and leads the department’s workplace transformation and estates strategy, aligning this to business strategy and the wider Civil Service workforce plan.
They also support the Permanent Secretary in their capacity as lead Accounting Officer on Synergy, the Shared Services Transformation Programme for DWP, the Ministry of Justice, the Home Office and Defra: a huge change programme, hosted and sponsored in DWP on behalf of the 4 departments.
The role is accountable for:
- Synergy Programme DG Sponsor – supporting the delivery of this project
- Estates strategy
- Workplace Transformation strategy and programme sponsor
- government reform in DWP