Jude was appointed Artistic Director of Southbank Centre, Britain’s largest cultural institution, in 2006. She founded Solent People's Theatre and Battersea Arts Centre, and was the founding director of the West Yorkshire Playhouse.  In 1997, she was awarded an OBE for her services to theatre, and in 2015 she was made a CBE in the New Year honours for services to the Arts. She has directed over 100 productions from the Royal Shakespeare Company to the Châtalet in Paris.