Bourne announced her departure in a post on LinkedIn, describing her time at Defra as “a privilege” and highlighting the progress made during her leadership of the department’s circular economy work.
She said: “It has been a privilege over the past three years leading the circular economy team in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
“We have achieved so much progress together and I know the team will go from strength to strength.”
From February, Bourne will take up a new role as Director General for EU Reset and Trade, which she described as “a new challenge for 2026”.
Time at Defra
Bourne has held a number of senior posts at Defra, most recently as Director of Circular Economy, a role she has held since February 2025.
In this position, she has led work across government to transition the UK away from a linear “take-make-use-throw” economic model toward one based on reuse, refill, repair and recycling.
Prior to this, she served as Director of Resources and Waste from April 2023 to February 2025, where she was responsible for policy and regulatory reforms aimed at accelerating the UK’s move to a more circular economy.
Her roles have included oversight of key packaging reforms such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), Simpler Recycling, the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) and the development of the UK’s Circular Economy Strategy which is set to be released early this year.
Between January 2021 and April 2023, Bourne served as Director of Northern Ireland at Defra.
Career in the civil service
With nearly 20 years in the civil service, Bourne has led several major government programmes beyond Defra.
Her experience includes running a major organisational change programme at the former Department for Communities and Local Government and overseeing Defra’s EU exit strategy – including legislative and border preparations for Brexit.
Earlier in her career, Bourne worked at a mental health and criminal justice charity before joining the civil service.
She was awarded an OBE in 2019 for services to public administration in recognition of her contribution to government.
