Initially working as a lawyer, with an LL.M. degree from Cambridge, Suzanne left private practice and then lectured in law at Manchester University before entering the civil service where she worked first at the Home Office, serving as Private Secretary to two Home Secretaries, and then at HM Treasury.

She moved into running Arms-Length Bodies becoming CEO of both the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Her last Executive role was as the UK’s Immigration Services Commissioner.   In addition to being Chair of Lepra, she is the Chair of Right to Succeed, a charity focused on educational inequalities, Chair of the Joint Audit Panel for the Mayor’s Office of Policing and Crime and the Metropolitan Police Service, Chair of the Fire Standards Board and Deputy Chair of the Valuation Tribunal Service. 

She is a member of the Fundraising Regulator’s Board and chair of its Standards Committee, and a member of the Board of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority. 

In addition, she serves as the Independent Appointed Person for the Greater London Authority reviewing allegations of misconduct made against elected officials and has also taken on the role of Assistant Boundary Commissioner. Her previous Board appointments include the University of London, (of which she was awarded a Fellowship), the Advertising Standards Authority and the General Medical Council. 

In addition to her law qualifications, she has a MSc in International Development and Project Management.