Jenny Pyper is a Northern Ireland civil servant. On 27 November 2020 she was appointed as Interim Head of the

Northern Ireland Civil Service The Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS; ga, Státseirbhís Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Cïvil Sarvice'') is the permanent bureaucracy of employees that supports the Northern Ireland Executive, the devolved governme ...

, taking up the position for eight months from 1 December, and succeeding

David Sterling Sir David Robert Sterling (born 7 March 1958) is a Northern Irish civil servant. Since 2017, he was the Interim Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, Permanent Secretary of the Executive Office, and Secretary to Northern Ireland Execut ...

, who stepped down from the role in August 2020. Pyper previously served as Chief Executive of the Utility Regulator.

Career

Pyper joined the civil service in 1985, and worked in a number of economic development roles. In 2004 she was appointed as Director of Energy Policy at the

Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment The Department for the Economy (DfE, ga, An Roinn Geilleagair) is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The minister with overall responsibility for the department is the Minister for the Econo ...

, before later taking up the role of Director of Regional Planning and Transportation at the

Department for Regional Development The Department for Infrastructure (DfI, ga, An Roinn Bonneagair; Ulster-Scots: ''Depairment fur Infrastructure'') is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. Up until May 2016, the department was ...

. In 2011 she became Deputy Secretary at the

Department for Social Development The Department for Communities (DfC, Irish: ''An Roinn Pobal'', Ulster Scots: ''Depairtment fur Commonities'') is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The minister with overall responsibility f ...

, and joined the Utility Regulator in 2013. She retired from the Utility Regulator in the autumn of 2020. Her appointment as interim head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service was announced after

Arlene Foster Arlene Isobel Foster, Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee (née Kelly; born 17 July 1970), is a British broadcaster and politician from Northern Ireland who served as First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2016 to 2017 and from 2020 to 2021 and ...

and

Michelle O'Neill Michelle O'Neill (née Doris; born 10 January 1977) is an Irish politician who served as deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland between 2020 and 2022. She has been serving as Vice President of Sinn Féin since 2018 and is the Member of the ...

, Northern Ireland's First and Deputy First Ministers respectively, were unable to agree on a permanent candidate for the post. She became the first woman to occupy the role.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Civil servants from Northern Ireland Heads of the Northern Ireland Civil Service {{NI-bio-stub