Madeleine Kay Alessandri (born 1965) is a British civil servant who has had a career in the security and diplomatic services. , she is the

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day ...

for the

Northern Ireland Office The Northern Ireland Office (NIO; ga, Oifig Thuaisceart Éireann, Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Oaffis'') is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of State for N ...

, replacing Sir Jonathan Stephens following his retirement. Alessandri studied Economics with International Relations at the

University of St. Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

, and then joined government service in 1988. After a number of roles in overseas national security and diplomatic service, including serving as Political Counsellor at the British Embassy in Japan from 2004–2007, following Colin Roberts, Alessandri ultimately became a director in the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

. Alessandri was appointed a Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(CMG) in the Queen's Birthday Honours in June 2017 for her "services to British foreign policy", whilst serving as a director at the

. From July 2018 until early 2020, Alessandri transferred to the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...

, where she served as one of the UK's Deputy National Security Advisers alongside

David Quarrey David Quarrey (born 1966) is a British diplomat and the British Ambassador to NATO since 2022. He was formerly acting National Security Adviser, having taken over the role while David Frost continued as the United Kingdom's Chief Negotiator t ...

, supporting the prime minister on national resilience and security. She also serves as National Honorary Chair of the

Civil Service Retirement Fellowship Civil may refer to: * Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights * Civil disobedience *Civil engineering * Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a m ...

since January 2020.

Offices held

References

External links

Alessandri's page on gov.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alessandri, Madeleine Living people 1965 births British civil servants Alumni of the University of St Andrews Members of HM Diplomatic Service Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland