Sam Lister
Biography
Sam Lister became the Director General for Industrial Strategy at the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) in November 2024.
Prior to this, he was Director General for Strategy and Operations at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. His portfolio included strategy and pan-departmental policy, commercial, finance, communication, research and analysis, HR and organisational change and legal affairs.
Sam was also responsible for Industrial Strategy, science and innovation at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, focusing on policies to boost productivity, support UK businesses to develop and exploit new technologies, and leading work on funding domestic and international research.
He previously held the roles of:
- Director of Communication, Partnerships & Governance at BEIS
- Director of Communication at the Department of Health
Before joining the Civil Service in 2011, Sam spent 12 years as a correspondent, news editor, and health editor at The Times.
Director General, Industrial Strategy
The Director General for Industrial Strategy is responsible for:
- overseeing the government’s industrial strategy to provide businesses with the long-term certainty they need to invest in sectors and places of highest growth potential, tackling barriers to increased investment and high-quality jobs, and ensuring tangible impact in communities right across the UK
- leading the strategic centre of DBT, and the planning and coordination of work to drive sustainable growth, trade and the creation of good jobs, the department’s analysis group, the Chief Economist, the Office for the Chief Scientific Adviser and its global futures directorate