Rebecca Woodward
Biography
Rebecca Woodward 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 Caragh McKiernan.
Prior to this, Rebecca served as Chief People Officer at the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), where she led the department’s People and Place functions alongside major transformation programmes.
Before joining DBT, Rebecca held a number of senior leadership roles including at the Cabinet Office, Department for Transport (DfT) and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHPRA). Rebecca has deep expertise across workforce reform, transformation and organisational design.
Rebecca began her career human resources (HR) roles in the NHS. She holds a degree in law and is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
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, Risk and Assurance
- Grants Delivery