Acted as a director and employed her inside (7)
I believe the answer is:
ushered
'acted as a director' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'employed her inside' is the wordplay.
'employed' becomes 'used' ('use' can be a synonym of 'employ').
'inside' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'used' going around 'her' is 'USHERED'.
'and' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ushered that I've seen before include "Showed people to seats as in cinemas or theatre" , "Escorted" , "Led" , "Conducted" , "Showed to a seat" .)