Case (pictured) is replacing Will Cavendish, who left the unit at the end of May to join the Department of Health as director general for innovation, growth and technology.
The Implementation Unit, which sits within the Cabinet Office, was created in 2012 to support and coordinate departments’ work to deliver policies.
Speaking during an exclusive joint CSW interview with Heywood and civil service head Sir Bob Kerslake, Heywood described Case as a “very high-quality newly promoted director”, adding that the unit “will remain a very influential part of government, working at the centre”.
Kerslake added: “The Implementation Unit has been a real success. I think it’s been able to play a challenging role in the way the prime minister wants, in terms of ensuring delivery, but it’s also done it in a way that has felt collaborative. It’s a very strong part of the machinery of delivery, and I think it will continue pretty much as it has done.”
Case first joined government in 2006, becoming a policy adviser at the Ministry of Defence after graduating from Queen Mary University of London with a PhD in Philosophy.
Since then, he’s held various senior civil service posts in the Cabinet Office and the Northern Ireland Office, before becoming head of the Olympic Secretariat: a temporary cross-government team set up to oversee and manage the delivery of the London 2012 Games.
After his year-long appointment at the secretariat, he was appointed private secretary to the prime minister – a role he is leaving after almost two years.
For full coverage of our interview with Heywood and Kerslake, read our next issue published on 15 July