[3] Her career in the finance industry began from 1980 to 1983 as an analyst and fund manager for Europe at Morgan Grenfell.

Barran has worked as the head of grant development for New Philanthropy Capital and as the firms donor adviser.

[5] On 26 July 2019, Barran was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Civil Society at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in the first Johnson ministry.

The position aimed to address the crisis of loneliness in British society that a 2017 commission initiated by Jo Cox had investigated.

[8] On 17 September 2021, Barran was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the School System at the Department for Education, in the second cabinet reshuffle of the second Johnson ministry.

She was reappointed by Rishi Sunak but the portfolio changed to Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the School System and Student Finance.