Sophie Dean was appointed Director General for Welfare and Pensions in September 2025. Before that, she was in a jobshare with Katherine Green as joint Directors General for DWP Policy.

Before DWP, Sophie and Katherine were Directors General for Borders and Trade in HMRC. They were responsible for policy and operation of the UK border for goods and delivered the major border change programme for Brexit. Sophie and Katherine joined HMRC in August 2018 as job share Directors of Customs and Border Design.

Sophie was previously Finance Director at HM Treasury. Prior to that she worked in a variety of policy roles in HM Treasury.

Before joining the Civil Service, Sophie worked in the private sector.