Prior to taking up the appointment of Deputy CEO for UK Space Agency, Annelies was the Senior Responsible Owner (job share) for the Rail Transformation Programme in the Department for Transport which is a once in a generation change to Britain’s railways that will fundamentally reform the way in which the sector and all organisations within it operate. Previously Annelies has a 23-year career in the civil service specialising in transformation, capital and digital project delivery focusing on the early project lifecycle at the policy/delivery interface. Annelies stepped out of the civil service for 2 years in 2016 to be the KMPG UK Project, Programme and Portfolio Management lead in Aerospace, Defence and Security. More recently Annelies was the Programme Director for COVID-19 Testing within Test and Trace and the Build Director for the COVID-19 the Managed Quarantine Service for the Department for Health and Social Care - winning the 2022 APM Social Project of the year award. Annelies is a Chartered Engineer and Chartered Project Professional and spends her spare time having fun on the water with her husband and 11 year old son.