Having travelled in Australia after university, she joined Thomson Tour Operators as a Programme Manager (1987–96), then PricewaterhouseCoopers as a Principal Consultant working with a range of FTSE companies (1996–98), before becoming COO of Hiscox. With Lloyd's of London from 2007 until 2012, Langley served as Director for North America and Market Development, Director of Lloyd's Asia and Chairman of Lloyd's Japan, before joining the Department for International Trade (DIT) as CEO for Financial and Professional Services (2013–15).