The government is hiring for a new director for Places for Growth, the programme which has propelled the relocation of more than 22,000 jobs out of London.
Ravi Chand left the role in July – having been the senior responsible owner for the programme since its inception in 2020 – to become executive director, people and culture, at the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
The advert for his replacement offers a broad salary range of £98,000 - £162,500 for the position, with a civil service pension employer contribution of 28.97%. It says external candidates “are expected to start on the band minimum”, while existing civil servants “will be appointed in line with the normal civil service pay rules”.
The successful candidate will be based in Birmingham, Glasgow, London or York and lead the Places for Growth team, which is part of the Civil Service People and Places Directorate at the Office of Government Property, a business unit of the Cabinet Office. They will report to government chief property officer Mark Chivers.
In a foreword to the job pack, Chivers said: "This will be a challenging and rewarding role for the successful candidate, giving the opportunity to implement a high priority programme across government that will deliver change and have a lasting impact. It’s roles like this that make the Cabinet Office such an exciting place to work."
Chivers also shared the job advert on LinkedIn, describing the position as “one of the most exciting roles in the civil service”.
He added: “If you'd like to lead a programme that aims to bring government closer to the communities it serves and strengthen the civil service's presence across the UK, while also supporting the delivery of broader government priorities (missions and public sector reform) in place, this might be the role for you.”
The job advert says there are four essential criteria needed for the role:
- Significant experience of successfully making recommendations on major issues – either to ministers, or as an executive to boards of large private sector companies
- Strong stakeholder management skills including delivering through others
- Extensive experience of policy development and translating it into delivery
- Experience of working with both central and regional/local government.
The Places for Growth programme was launched by Boris Johnson’s government in 2020 with a target of relocating 22,000 jobs by 2030, and had racked up 23,249 job relocations by the end of June last year, the last date for which data is available.
With this target achieved well in advance of both its original deadline and the revised target date of 2027 set by Rishi Sunak in 2023, the Labour government in May announced a new set of goals and plans.
It said it would relocate “thousands” of civil service jobs to 13 towns and cities across the country, and by 2030, reduce the number of civil servants based in London by 12,000. It also said it would have 50% of UK-based senior civil servants in regional offices across the UK by 2030.
The latter was also a target of the original Places for Growth programme, but has proved much more difficult to deliver. According to provisional Cabinet Office data on SCS role relocations the proportion of SCS roles in the regions and devolved nations was 33.3% as of December 2024.
‘Generational change’
Reflecting on his time leading the programme ahead of his departure in July, Chand said he was “filled with pride and a deep sense of accomplishment”.
“Since 2020, we have spearheaded a remarkable transformation that has reshaped the UK’s civil service, bringing government roles closer to the communities they serve and unlocking £1.9 billion in economic benefits, with the potential to realise additional savings through further role relocations,” he said.
Chand said the initiative had also allowed individuals to “pursue successful, end-to-end careers across the UK, without the need to relocate to London”.
And he said the substantial increase in director general and permanent secretary roles outside the capital “underscores this generational change – truly the most significant shift seen in the civil service in recent decades”.
He added that the programme has “laid the foundation for a more connected, resilient, and representative civil service”.