[5] Owen was an academic lecturer and researcher at Cardiff University and the London School of Economics, where she studied women in the labour market from 1979 until 1988.

In 2006 she moved to the Department for International Development as their Director-General for Corporate Performance,[1] before briefly serving as their acting Permanent Secretary in 2008 between Sir Suma Chakrabarti and Dame Minouche Shafik.

[9] In July 2014, Owen became the LGB&T (straight ally) Champion for Her Majesty's Civil Service, which is a voluntary leadership role designed to serve as a figurehead for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender government employees.

[1] One of her early acts was overseeing the Talent Action Plan, launched in September 2014, which aims to remove barriers that have limited LGB&T employees.

Owen has also discussed the need for more gender equality in government, and that she was a strong proponent of policies and programmes to increase the number of women in power in the senior civil service.