Jerome Glass, formerly chief operating officer at the Home Office, has taken up a newly created director general post in the Cabinet Office to lead work on transforming the civil service.
The new role brings together two currently empty positions in the Cabinet Office: the government chief people officer, previously held by Fiona Ryland until her departure in late 2025, and DG for reform and efficiency, held by Janet Hughes until last month.
In a LinkedIn post, Glass said: “I will be leading the cabinet secretary’s agenda on transformation of the civil service focusing on improving delivery, innovation and productivity, and culture and pride.”
He said that he would be working with cabinet secretary Antonia Romeo, civil service chief operating officer Cat Little “and all the permanent secretaries, with a mission to build the civil service of the future”.
Glass added: “It has been a huge privilege to serve as chief operating officer at [the] Home Office and I am proud to leave this amazing organisation in a stronger place. Thank you to my brilliant COO Group colleagues for their incredible work and support!”
Glass has served as Home Office COO since June 2025. He had previously spent nine years at the Ministry of Justice, serving as director general for policy from 2020 to 2025.
He joined the civil service in 2005, working as a private secretary to the permanent secretary in the business department, and spent several years working in the Shareholder Executive before taking a secondment at the financial services company Lazard. He then spent time as director of service transformation at the BBC, before returning to the civil service in 2013 as deputy director – strategy in the Department for Energy and Climate Change.