Valerie Hughes-D'Aeth

Valerie has over 35 years’ experience of working in HR and OD across a broad range of industries and in both private and public sectors. She is currently a Non-Executive Director for the Department for Work and Pensions and provides business advice, consulting and mentoring support through her own consultancy, alongside contributing regularly to debates on topical commercial and people-related issues. She is a Fellow of the CIPD and is passionate about improving organisational capability and business value while enabling better work and working lives.

At EDS in the Netherlands, she led recruitment across Europe and headed up HR for Northern Europe before returning to the UK as their European Reward Director and then as UK and Ireland HR Director. She later became Group HR Director and Executive for technology company Xansa, and when it was acquired by Steria, Valerie led the 20,000 people integration and became their Group HR Director, based in Paris. As Group HR Director at Amey, she took on broader responsibility for Marketing/Communications, Sustainability and Health and Safety, before joining the BBC Executive as their Chief HR Officer. In 2019, she was recognised with an HR Lifetime Achievement Award.

She was appointed as the Chair of the CIPD Board in April 2021.