Caragh McKiernan
Biography
Caragh McKiernan was appointed Interim Chief Operating Officer at the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST) – formerly the Department for Business and Trade – in April 2026, as part of a job share with Rebecca Woodward.
Prior to this, Caragh served as Director of Transformation at the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), where she led the department’s largest transformation programmes, including Machinery of Government (MOG) changes and major operating model redesign. She also served as Chief Project Delivery Officer, overseeing the department’s strategic portfolio of change.
Before joining DBT, Caragh held a number of senior leadership roles delivering complex transformation programmes across government, including at the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Her work has spanned digital transformation, organisation redesign, workforce reform and operational improvement at scale.
Caragh began her career in management consulting, advising central and local government organisations on major transformation and change programmes. She later joined Save the Children as Global Programme Director, leading a significant international finance transformation programme.
Chief Operating Officer (job share)
The Chief Operating Officer (job share) has overall responsibility for a range of the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade’s (BIST) corporate functions and support services, including:
- digital, data and technology (DDaT)
- people and place
- commercial
- finance, security and risk assurance
- grants delivery