Alex Clegg is a policy advisor in the Civil Service with a focus on local economic growth in South Yorkshire. In his role, Alex works between local and national government to inform central UK Government economic growth policy through local intelligence, relationships and insight.

Role: Local Economic Growth Policy Advisor
Organisation: Civil Service
Sector: Public sector
Studied: Anthropology
Alex Clegg
“An anthropological (and social science) lens on the world allows us to approach societal issues with a holistic mindset”
How did you get to where you are now?
After graduating from UCL in 2018, I worked in various roles in the charity and university sector helping academics and publics engage with policy. In my first job I led public engagement for an event bringing together members of the public, academics, and politicians in the UK Parliament. I had to understand all these different ways of understanding the same problem and help translate what people were saying about them so that a meaningful conversation could be had. This experience and the skills I honed have set me up for pretty much every job I had.
The following roles I had were all quite varied and included leading a national campaign empowering people to ask politicians, journalists and companies for the evidence behind their claims, and managing a network of 90+ UK universities committed to increasing the impact of research on policy. During this time, I also completed a part time MA in Anthropological Research at the University of Manchester, focusing on the interaction of the public, policymakers and scientists on the UK’s nuclear fusion programme.
After years of helping people engage with Government, in 2023 I joined the Civil Service. Throughout this time, I’ve sought to promote the social sciences through a number of initiatives including chairing the Royal Anthropological Institute’s Anthropology of Policy and Practice Committee and now the Whitehall Anthropology Network – an informal cross-government network to promote the contribution of anthropological methods, expertise and evidence to policymaking in UK Government.
What do you do in your current role?
I work across UK Government departments collaborating with local government, business and academic partners to inform local economic growth policy. My day-to-day role is quite diverse and ranges from working with Council officials to deliver Government funding, and interviewing small businesses on their barriers to growth, to collaborating with academics to understand regional innovation.
“What I enjoy most about my role is that I’m privileged to be able to speak to diverse groups of people every day, acting as a conduit between the UK Government and a range of partners.”
What skills do you need for this role?
Three skills in particular spring to mind:
- Understanding complexity. Societal issues are becoming increasingly complex and working in a ‘place’ you need a much more holistic view of the problem and potential solutions.
- Collaboration skills. Understanding how others view an issue and how we can still effectively work together to achieve our aims.
- Communication skills. I often find myself explaining UK Government policy to a diverse range of partners meaning I need to tailor what I say to each audience.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
Sometimes I think the issues people face in day-to-day life and how they are experienced differently in different places can feel quite abstract. What I enjoy most about my role is that I’m privileged to be able to speak to diverse groups of people every day, acting as a conduit between the UK Government and a range of partners.
Why did you choose to study social science?
I dropped out of A Levels as a 17-year-old and found myself working on building sites and washing dishes. I didn’t know what I wanted to do until someone told me about this thing called anthropology. Wanting to find out more, I found out what I could online and rented the book ‘Small Places, Large Issues’ from my local library. This led me to go back to college to do my A Levels and then go on to university. The ways of thinking and approaching complex issues in society that studying social science gave me, set me up for the type of roles I’ve sought throughout my career.
“In an increasingly complex world, the social sciences are one of the principle ways to cut through the noise and begin to navigate and offer ways to frame problems and pathways to solving them.”
Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
The Civil Service is a vast, complex organisation and the more time you spend in it, working on different policies and meeting new people, the more opportunities reveal themselves! In the next five years though, I want to be leading teams to push on with devolution and local growth across England so that places like those I grew up in can realise their potential. Of course, this also means using anthropological and social science expertise to understand the challenges and deliver innovative solutions.
What would you say to someone considering studying or pursuing a career in the social sciences?
In an increasingly complex world, the social sciences are one of the principle ways to cut through the noise and begin to navigate and offer ways to frame problems and pathways to solving them. An anthropological (and social science) lens on the world allows us to approach societal issues with a holistic mindset, enabling us to understand the multiple factors that are contributing to it and how they are perceived and acted upon in a range of different ways by different groups in society. It’s a solid foundation to approach making a positive difference in the world. If you want to stand out in a job market, especially in a context with the increasing role of AI, then studying the social sciences can help set you apart.