In 1996 Romeo joined the strategic consultancy firm
Oliver Wyman where she worked for three years. In 1999 she left the firm and earned an MSc in economics from the
London School of Economics.
Joining the Civil Service In 2000, Romeo applied for a one-year temporary contract as a professional economist in the
Lord Chancellor's Department.
Ministry of Justice In 2011, after 18 months at the Cabinet Office, Romeo moved back to the Ministry of Justice, taking on the role of Director General, Transformation. She was made responsible for reform and savings programmes, strategy, digital services, communications, group HR and group estates. Responsible for all criminal justice policy and other major programmes, she delivered a 2.5 year, £1bn programme to reduce reoffending among ex-offenders. She left the role in February 2015 and was succeeded by
Indra Morris.
Cabinet Office – Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat During the 2015 election Romeo took on the role of director general at the
Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat and was responsible for delivering the prime minister's top policy priorities. Her work involved coordinating policy advice to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, oversight of the Implementation Unit, and the operation of the Implementation Task Forces.
Special Envoy to US technology companies From October 2015 to 2016 Romeo served as the government's special envoy to
U.S. technology companies. The formal title was "Her Majesty's Government's Envoy to the United States' Communications Service Providers". In this role she worked with US-based technology firms across prosperity, security, and regulatory issues. In addition to her duties as Consul General, she was given the additional role of Director General Economic and Commercial Affairs USA, under the auspices of
UK Trade & Investment. As DGECA USA, Romeo's responsibilities included oversight of the North American operations of the foreign commercial arm of the UK Government. Romeo left the role as Director General Economic and Commercial Affairs USA in March 2017, after nine months, when she became permanent secretary of the Trade Department. After taking up her new role, she continued to live in New York until the end of the school year. and misusing expenses. It was subsequently decided that there was "no case to answer".
Department for International Trade In January 2017 Romeo was appointed as permanent secretary of the
Department for International Trade. Her first day was on 27 March 2017, just two days before Article 50 was triggered, a major step in the UK's exit from the European Union. Her team was tasked with ensuring that the UK was prepared to leave the EU on 29 March 2019. During that time, they developed and published a temporary tariff regime, negotiated continuity agreements, and secured continued participation in the
GPA to ensure UK businesses could continue to bid for public sector contracts globally. Lord David Prior (Conservative Peer, then Chair of
NHS England) and then
NHSX CEO,
Matthew Gould. The subsequent
NHS contract with
Palantir under then
Health Secretary,
Matt Hancock, led to a successful lawsuit against the
UK Government. The lawsuit was brought by
openDemocracy and tech abuse campaigners Foxglove, as a result of a lack of transparency in setting up the contract and redactions of the sources used by the data store.
Return to the Ministry of Justice In January 2021 Romeo moved back to the
Ministry of Justice as
permanent secretary. In her role as Clerk of the Crown in Chancery, Romeo was responsible for the official record of the
Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla as it occurred at
Westminster Abbey on 6 May 2023. She authored Charles III's Coronation Roll and presented the Roll and its digital version to the King and Queen at Buckingham Palace in May 2024.
Home Office In March 2025, Romeo was appointed permanent secretary of the
Home Office, serving Home Secretaries
Yvette Cooper and
Shabana Mahmood.
Cabinet Secretary After
Simon Case resigned as cabinet secretary at the end of 2024, Romeo was one of four appointable candidates shortlisted by an expert panel. Prime minister
Keir Starmer chose
Chris Wormald for the position in December 2024. After Wormald's resignation in February 2026, Romeo was tipped to be appointed to the role.
Lord McDonald told Channel 4 News: “The due diligence needs to be thorough. If the candidate mentioned in the media is the one, in my view, the due diligence has some way still to go.” Subsequently, after this, a second official came forward to warn against appointing her as Cabinet Secretary. This contradicts a government press statement saying that only one person raised concerns about her behaviour during her time as Consul-General. On 19 February 2026, she was formally appointed as Cabinet Secretary.
Board memberships Romeo is president of the Whitehall Choir, an amateur choir in London. She is a member of the Civil Service Board. She is a trustee of the Donmar Warehouse theatre, and the John Browne Charitable Trust. ==Personal life==