Lead analyst perhaps taking Speaker’s role? (7)
I believe the answer is:
assayer
'role?' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are singular nouns.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'lead analyst perhaps taking speaker's' is the wordplay.
'lead' suggests taking the first letters (I've seen 'leading' mean this).
'perhaps taking' becomes 's' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'speaker' becomes 'sayer'.
The first letter of 'analyst' is 'a'.
'a'+'s'+'sayer'='ASSAYER'
(Other definitions for assayer that I've seen before include "I'll carry out a test" , "He allocates marks" , "(Precious metal) analyst" , "Tester of metals" , "One does chemical tests on metals" .)