Job 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. This is an exciting opportunity to lead the organisation from the outset, continuing its set-up, delivering its first corporate plan, translating high-level objectives into delivery plans (including a proposed new national accreditation scheme for design codes), responding to the direction of the new government and growing organisational capacity.
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 3-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 £4 million, 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 .
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.
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £80,000, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £21,600 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension
To apply, please visit the Civil Service Jobs website
