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To apply for this role you will need to submit a CV and statement of suitability. These need to be merged into one document. When submitting your application Applied will ask you to upload a CV, when doing this you should upload your merged document of your CV and statement of suitability. There are further details in the Selection Process section further below in this advert.

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If those don't work please email scs.recruitment@communities.gov.uk with your application and/or CV before the submission deadline. Any applications received after the deadline may not be considered.

Short Summary

The Office for Place is a newly established non-departmental public body that will develop and share evidence, advice, tools and learning to support the creation and stewardship of places that are beautiful, sustainable, popular, and healthy.  This will help to create the millions of new homes that the country needs.

It has its origins in the Building Better Building Beautiful Commission and publication of the National Design Guide and National Model Design Code which aims to help local authorities and communities decide what good quality design looks like in their area.

This is an exciting opportunity to lead and shape a new organisation whose objectives are to:    

• Catalyse a fundamental change within and across all levels of government, communities, and the development, planning and design industries, to support the creation and stewardship of popular, healthy, beautiful, and sustainable places.   

• Help neighbourhoods, communities and public servants working on their behalf, to ask for and deliver new places, and manage existing places, to be popular, healthy, beautiful, and sustainable.   

• Support public sector planners and the British design and development industries to be the best place makers in the world aided by improving UK and international data on happiness, health, popularity, and sustainability.   

Job Description

The Chief Executive will oversee the strategic and organisational development of a newly established public body.  You will be joining in the first full year of operations after the Office for Place was announced as a new non-departmental public body in July 2023. 

You will be focused on increasing the profile and capability as the organisation becomes fully independent of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in autumn 2024. You will work closely with the new permanent chair and board to ensure that the organisation is meeting Ministerial and departmental expectations, delivers on its objectives and works effectively with local government, other public bodies and the wider development, planning and design industry.  You will play an important leadership role in building the presence and reputation of a new public body, raising awareness, establishing partnerships, delivering a communications strategy and ensuring that it is effectively able to support local communities.

You will lead the work of a small but specialist public body, able to advise government, local government and industry on the creation and stewardship of better designed places. Initially the focus will be on the successful implementation of design codes in accordance with the National Model Design Code, whilst also promoting wider placemaking encompassing active travel, public realm, heritage preservation, sustainability and the construction of many new homes in the context of an evolving and digitising planning system.  You will be a key advocate for better designed places and lead a technical team of architects, planners, digital and built environment professionals tasked with raising standards, influencing policy, encouraging innovation and overcoming practical challenges.

In establishing a new public body, you will also need to ensure that the appropriate standards of governance, propriety and managing public money are in place.  You will drive recruitment to ensure that the organisation is at full capacity by the end of the financial year and able to produce a set of annual accounts at the end of its first full year of independent operation.  You will need to ensure that the Office for Place has the right people, processes and culture to establish its reputation, performance and successful delivery at pace.

The successful applicant will initially be recruited into the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and will be subject to a TUPE transfer in the second half of 2024. You will subsequently lead an independent organisation based in Stoke-on-Trent. Terms and conditions for the new organisation are to be confirmed but will be no less favourable than MHCLG. 

Key Accountabilities​

The Chief Executive is responsible for the establishment and overall management of the Office for Place which includes: 

• Establishing the strategic direction and translating high-level objectives into delivery plans.  This will involve working closely with the Chair and board to agree the three-year corporate plan and annual business plan. 

• Ensuring that the organisation is - and able to demonstrate that it is – achieving its objectives.  This will include agreeing the KPIs and outcomes, and providing assurance to the MHCLG sponsor team of progress on deliverables and against intended outcomes, including production of an annual ‘state of the nation’ report. It is expected that you will meet annually with MHCLG Ministers (with the chair) and the Permanent Secretary, and undertake a public bodies review in 2025. 

• Taking forward key deliverables in the first year of operations, including launching a new national accreditation scheme for local authority-wise design codes, publication of research and tools to assist with implementation and shared learning, training and events programmes, the Office for Place’s second annual conference and grant-funding and support to pathfinder local authorities.  

• Acting as Accounting Officer with responsibility for the effective management of an annual budget of around £4million, accounts, risk management and standards of governance.  

• Ensuring standards of propriety and transparency, especially in relation to planning matters.  

• Leading recruitment and instilling a high performance, inclusive people culture. 

• Overseeing the move to a permanent office location in Stoke-on-Trent.   

• Championing the Office for Place to secure better designed places, establishing strong networks and speaking publicly to raise the profile and awareness of a new organisation.  This will be England-wide across both the public sector, predominantly local government planners and urban design officers but also neighbourhood planning and community groups, and the built environment industry, including developers, housebuilders, architects and planners. 

• Establishing delivery partnerships and alliances with partner agencies and membership organisations.  You will need to strategically align the organisation with others who hold responsibilities for placemaking policy or practice, securing buy-in to joint working/messaging and successfully influence key stakeholders in order to secure amendments to policy and practice and deliver culture change. 

• Working effectively with senior officials in government departments to position the Office for Place, resolve ambiguities and provide clear advice to Ministers, including on addressing policy tensions and practical challenges to delivering better designed places.

Person specification

We are looking for a strategic leader with the experience to lead a small but technical public body comprised of architects, planners, digital and built environment professionals. You will be comfortable leading an organisation of c 24 FTE, able to set its strategic priorities and with a track record of delivering identifiable outputs and achieving positive outcomes.

You will ideally have experience gained from both the public and private sector, able to understand the challenges facing industry in securing approval for new development but also successfully able to influence policy and practice in local and central government, and secure the confidence of a sponsor Government department.

You will be able to work effectively with government departments, local government, and the planning and design sector, able to command the confidence of your peers, provide a visible presence for the Office for Place and build partnerships to champion change.

We particularly encourage applications from those of an ethnic minority background and those with disabilities, as well as those based in locations outside of London, who are underrepresented at this level in MHCLG.

As one of the Department’s senior leaders, you will also be a visible role model for the Civil Service leadership behaviours. These can be found in the Civil Service Leadership Statement which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-leadership-statement/civil-service-leadership-statement  

Essential Criteria​

Leadership:

• Ability to build and lead a large, inclusive and high performing team or organisation, setting direction and demonstrating the delivery of successful outcomes when working with complex issues.

• An ability to fulfil the requirements of an Accounting Officer, including strong commercial awareness, financial control and efficiency, and risk management, with a strong commitment to maintaining standards of propriety and value for money. 

Strategic policy and delivery thinking:

• A good understanding of English planning policy and other policy areas, and how they contribute to successful places.  You will be expected to demonstrate an affinity with the work of the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission and objectives of the Office for Place.

• An ability to think strategically and innovatively, anticipate issues, make effective decisions and ensure a strong delivery culture. 

Building partnerships and influencing:

• An inspiring and confident communicator, with a track-record of securing effective relationships with senior stakeholders, influencing outcomes and the personal credibility to secure the confidence of local government, ministers, senior civil servants and industry. 

Desirable criteria:

• Experience of working constructively with Boards, either in the public or private sector.

• Analytical skills to be able to interpret different data sources and use these to influence policy priorities.  

How to apply

Please click the Be Applied link to provide the required information and complete your application through the Be Applied website by 23:55 on 8th September.

You will be asked to enter some personal details, upload your CV and to provide your responses to the role’s advertised essential criteria.​

When prompted to upload your CV, please upload a single document consisting of:

• a CV (including the names of 2 referees and your current remuneration) setting out your career history, with key responsibilities, achievements and your relevant qualifications. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years. ​ 

• a statement of suitability explaining how your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria provided in the person specification. (max. 2 pages)​ 

Please remember to save these two items in one document. Both items will be assessed to determine sift outcomes.  

Failure to submit both a CV and statement of suitability will mean the panel only have limited information on which to assess your application against the Essential Criteria. 

Please note that only completed applications through the Be Applied route will be considered and that any further progress updates will be sent through Be Applied. 

The hiring manager, Cathy Francis, or the current postholder, Suzanne Kochanowski, would be happy to have informal discussions with candidates who would like further information about the role before submitting an application. If interested, please contact scs.recruitment@communities.gov.uk  

The selection panel will be made up of: 

• Cathy Francis, Director, New Towns, Infrastructure and Housing Delivery

• Suzanne Kochanowski, CEO, Office for Place (interim)

• Nicholas Boys Smith, Chair, Office for Place

Additionally, the panel will be joined by one of our staff representatives from a pool of volunteers as part of our commitments to diversity and inclusion. 

Selection process and assessments

During sifting, both your CV and Statement of Suitability will be assessed against the role’s Essential Criteria. These Essential Criteria will also be used to form the basis of the panel’s questions in your final interview.

If a role lists Desirable Criteria, these will only be used to determine the merit order of candidates who rank evenly when assessed against the Essential Criteria.

Candidates that are shortlisted may be invited to attend a staff engagement panel.  

At DLUHC we hold staff engagement panels as an integral part of the recruitment process for Senior Civil Servants (SCS) – they are designed to help us build up a rounded picture of each candidate and give us an insight into how you might engage and interact with your team should you be successful. The purpose of the session is to help us assess your engagement and communication skills and is not about testing your subject knowledge or expertise for this particular role. Feedback from the session is passed onto the selection panel for consideration alongside the final interview.

Candidates may also be invited to a meeting with Office for Place board members, and/or other senior stakeholders. This is not a formal part of the selection process but an informal chance for candidates to find out more about the role and the organisation.

Shortlisted candidates will also be invited to give a short presentation or complete an exercise at the beginning of their final interview. Further details will be provided to shortlisted candidates when invited to interview.  

Final interviews are scheduled to take place on 1st and 2nd October.

All of the evidence presented as part of the process will be considered in the final assessment. 

Location 

This role is available in:

• Stoke-on-Trent

Any offer made will be based on this specific location. 

Please note that, as your normal work location, costs cannot be claimed for travel to and from your base office location.

Salary 

For external appointments, remuneration for this role will be £80,000 pa plus a bonus opportunity depending on performance (within the normal Civil Service pay arrangements) and attractive pension.​

For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable. If appointed on promotion you would get the higher of 10% uplift or the new minimum for Deputy Director (£75,000 p/a)

Future pay awards will normally be made in line with current SCS performance-related pay arrangements.

Reserve List  

In the event that we identify more appointable candidates than we currently have posts available, we will hold applicant details in a reserve list for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made. Candidates placed on a reserve list will be informed of this.

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Near Miss Offers​ 

Please note that near miss offers may be made at the lower grade to candidates who do not meet the grade criteria for this campaign.

Security Clearance 

All DLUHC colleagues must meet the Baseline Personnel Security Standard. This is a series of basic security checks to confirm identity and employment history.

In addition to the BPSS, the level of security clearance required for this role is Security Check (SC) and the process can take up to 8 weeks to complete. For more details of vetting levels and requirements please refer to the Cabinet Office HMG Personnel Security Controls.

Complaints Process 

Please see candidate pack slide 23 for details.