Chief Executive

Cheshire East Council is in the best shape it’s been since our formation in 2009. Having recovered from a challenging period and consolidated our position as a well-run, purposeful organisation, we’re now ready to build on firm foundations in the coming years. We’re looking for a new Chief Executive with the experience to address the complex range of challenges we face, the personal leadership capacity to embrace and develop our transformed organisational culture, and the vision to see where we can go from here.

While many indicators show Cheshire East as an affluent and thriving area, there remain pockets of deprivation, and the council is determined to address these inequalities as a priority. The differential in life expectancy between the least and most deprived areas is too high, and this has to change. Equally, though we have a balanced 4-year budget and there is a shared sense of forward motion, the next five years are likely to be tough for local government across the whole of the UK, and we cannot reduce our focus on being well-managed and rigorous on cost and efficiency.

We want to meet people who have the capacity to lead equally effectively on day-to-day issues, as well as strategy and big-picture projects. In particular, we would like to hear from those who bring experience of converting political ambition into delivery on the ground; who have outstanding people skills, and understand the importance of culture in high-performing organisations; and who bring high levels of financial competence, including a track record of income generation and efficiency. A nuanced grasp of social care provision and demand-led budgets would be a distinct advantage, as would hands-on understanding of major infrastructure projects and their implications for places.

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