Rosemary Pratt is an experienced senior civil service leader with expertise in the intersection of security and social/economic policy. She is currently Director for Export Control and Sanctions at the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), a remit encompassing policy, operational delivery (the Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) and Office for Trade Sanctions Implementation (OTSI) and major digital change. This includes decision making on arms exports to Israel during the Gaza conflict, work with international partners to deliver and enforce successive packages of Russia trade sanctions in the war with Ukraine, and balancing growth and security objectives in export of dual use technology.

Rosemary’s civil service career began in education and social policy, including improvement of school literacy and numeracy standards, children’s social care, and oversight of the Parliamentary passage and implementation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Involvement with counter radicalisation policy from the perspective of child safeguarding in DfE led to a shift in focus to counter terrorism and extremism from 2011, ultimately moving to the Home Office as Head of Prevent, and then to senior leadership roles across the range of security threats. This included four years as Director, State Threats and Cyber at the Cabinet Office from 2018-2022 where she led the design of the UK National Cyber Strategy 2022, cross government work to protect critical national infrastructure including 5G networks and undersea cables, crisis management for major incidents and complex casework capability for economic threat.

Rosemary is a strong supporter of diversity and inclusion, acting as a senior champion/ally for the Civil Service Neurodiversity Network.

She has an MA in Philosophy and Modern Languages from Oxford University and a PhD in German literature/politics from University College London. From 1 February 2026, Rosemary is a Visiting Senior Lecturer in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London.