Kate Josephs CB
Chief Executive, Sheffield City CouncilKate Josephs CB joined Sheffield City Council as Chief Executive in January 2021, having spent 20 years in national government in the UK and United States.
Kate’s career as a senior leader in the UK civil service included positions in HM Treasury; the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit; the Department for Education and the Cabinet Office.
Kate also spent time in Washington D.C. working for the US Federal Government during the Obama Administration, including as Executive Director of the White House Performance Improvement Council.
Kate grew up and went to comprehensive school in Doncaster, was educated at Oxford University and the London School of Economics, and lives in Sheffield with her family.
My Speaker Sessions
Friday 27 November 2026
Rewiring the state: What it means for local government
As the Government pushes ahead with plans to rewire the state and reshape the relationship between central and local government, this session draws on speakers who have worked on both sides of that divide. What does a civil service background bring to the practical realities of running a local authority, and conversely, what has life inside local government revealed that Whitehall still doesn't fully grasp? The panel explores what genuine ‘rewiring’ should look like when it's informed by experience of both systems, not just one.
