The Civil Service Commission has launched a recruitment drive for a new lead commissioner to succeed Gisela Stuart, whose five-year term of office ends in March next year.
The regulator is offering a salary of £89,000 for the three-days-a-week role of first civil service commissioner – in line with the £85,000-£90,000 pay band bracketed for Baroness Stuart in the commission’s most recent annual report and accounts, which cover 2024-25.
The Civil Service Commission is an independent, executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Cabinet Office. It regulates recruitment into the civil service, including monitoring senior recruitment competitions, and is the final appeal body for complaints under the civil service code.
The commission also provides independent advice on business appointment rules applications from senior civil servants and special advisers who leave their government roles.
Currently there are 15 civil service commissioners who are led by the first civil service commissioner, which is a statutory appointment.
The commission’s advertisement for its next first commissioner says the regulator “is looking for a leader with the ability to bring together a team of commissioners and a small secretariat to ensure that the civil service recruits the best people to drive forward the government’s agenda”.
With reference to the business appointment rules, the advertisement adds that “ensuring the highest standards of ethics and integrity are upheld” as officials leave the civil service is also a core part of the role.
According to the advertisement, the first civil service commissioner’s main responsibilities are providing personal and professional leadership to the commission and its commissioners – as well as being the public face of the regulator.
They will be tasked with driving operational delivery, ensuring regulatory consistency and leading policy development and regulatory decision-making – and will also personally chair the most senior civil service recruitment competitions.
The advertisement states that the first civil service commissioner should “play an active role” in supporting senior civil service leadership, as requested by the cabinet secretary.
They are also required to ensure that the commission and its commissioners are able to “work dynamically” with the UK government and devolved governments, “including in pursuit of the Future Civil Service programme and wider recruitment modernisation”.
The job ad notes that previous first civil service commissioners have brought “a range of different careers and interests” to the role. Stuart is the first former MP to lead the Civil Service Commission. She now sits as a crossbench peer in the House of Lords. Stuart succeeded management consultant and former Cabinet Office permanent secretary Alan Watmore in the post.
According to the commission’s advertisement, essential criteria for the role include “excellent judgement and decision-making skills with the ability to assimilate a range of evidence and perspectives” plus strong communication skills.
Other vital attributes are the ability to “demonstrate authority and command trust and confidence at all levels, including with ministers and senior officials” and experience of selecting individuals at a senior level in the private, public or voluntary sectors.
A further must-have skill is listed as “the ability to chair a small but influential arm’s-length body”.
In a LinkedIn post, Civil Service Commission chief executive Kate Owen described the first civil service commissioner job as “an absolutely fascinating role” that involves “playing a pivotal role in the government’s ethics and integrity landscape”.
She added that the successful applicant will be “leading a mature regulator with an excellent board of commissioners and a fantastic staff team”.
The first civil service commissioner role is based at 1 Horse Guards Road in London. It is open to applications until 23:59 on 15 September, with interviews for shortlisted candidates expected to take place by the end of October.