Sue was the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, responsible for the overall management of the department. Prior to taking up this post in October 2013 Sue was Director General for Strategy in the Department for Work and Pensions. She was previously Director General for Corporate Performance at the Department for International Development. Sue has also served in the Number 10 Policy Unit, advising on family policy, and at the Treasury where she was Director in charge of EMU policy and national debt. In addition to her many duties, she was also overall civil service Diversity & Inclusion champion. Sue retired in April 2019.