Mrs. Jacqui McCrum was appointed to the post of Secretary General of the Department of Defence in August 2020. She is the first female Secretary General of the Department. In her capacity, she acts as the principal policy advisor to the Minister for Defence and as the Accounting Officer for all Defence expenditure. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the National Shared Services Office.
Prior to her appointment, Mrs. McCrum was the Deputy Secretary in the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, the Director General and Accounting Officer in the Office of the Ombudsman, Offices of the Information Commissioner and Commissioner for Environmental Information, Standards in Public Office Commission, Referendum Commission and Commission for Public Service Appointments. She also held the position of Deputy Financial Services Ombudsman. The majority of her career was in financial services in London and Dublin. She lives in North Co Dublin, married to Maurice with two children, Cameron and Freya.
Mrs. McCrum holds an Institute of Directors Diploma in Company Management; a UCD/IPA Professional Diploma in Human Rights and Equality; Law Society of Ireland Certificate in Pensions Law and Practice; is a certified Mediator (Mediation Foundation of Ireland); University of Cambridge, Post Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Business and a Diploma in Montessori Studies from The London Montessori Centre.