{"id":1049,"date":"2025-10-01T14:18:25","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T14:18:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/datadecoded.com\/mcr\/?post_type=speaker&#038;p=1049"},"modified":"2025-10-01T14:18:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T14:18:25","slug":"rachel-butler","status":"publish","type":"speaker","link":"https:\/\/datadecoded.com\/mcr\/speakers\/rachel-butler\/","title":{"rendered":"Rachel Butler"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Rachel Butler is Defra\u2019s Data Strategy Lead in the Chief Data Office, where she is shaping the department\u2019s long-term approach to data and information. Her role includes developing strategic content, driving programme delivery, embedding culture change, and strengthening governance arrangements.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel began her career as an Officer in the Royal Navy before moving into analytics as an Intelligence Analyst at Maritime New Zealand. She went on to lead multi-organisation analytics and intelligence programmes as a senior manager in New Zealand Public Service, before returning to the UK in 2024. As someone who has navigated a non-traditional path into data leadership, Rachel is passionate about social mobility and broadening access to careers in data. She holds an MSc in International Relations and National Security Studies and is committed to using data to connect people and inspire meaningful change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1067,"template":"","speaker-category":[10],"class_list":["post-1049","speaker","type-speaker","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","speaker-category-speaker"],"acf":{"position":"Data Strategy Lead","business":1047,"email":"","phone":"","website":"","address":"","linkedin":"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/rachel-butler-a47a4970","facebook":"","instagram":"","youtube":"","x":"","bluesky":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v26.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Rachel Butler - Data Decoded MCR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/datadecoded.com\/mcr\/speakers\/rachel-butler\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rachel Butler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rachel Butler is Defra\u2019s Data Strategy Lead in the Chief Data Office, where she is shaping...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/datadecoded.com\/mcr\/speakers\/rachel-butler\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Data Decoded MCR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DataDecoded\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/datadecoded.com\/mcr\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/Rachel-Butler-BW.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"419\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"418\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@DataDecoded_HQ\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/datadecoded.com\/mcr\/speakers\/rachel-butler\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/datadecoded.com\/mcr\/speakers\/rachel-butler\/\",\"name\":\"Rachel Butler - 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