Two arm’s-length bodies have this week announced that their next chief executives will be job-share appointments.
The Trade Remedies Authority – the UK’s post-Brexit watchdog responsible for investigating alleged unfair trading practices – has unveiled Jessica Blakely and Carmen Suarez as its job-share chief executives. They will take up post at the authority, which is an ALB of the Department for Business and Trade, on 2 June.
Blakely and Suarez are job-share veterans – and currently serve as “director” responsible for local funding and investment at the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Blakely and Suarez. Photo: TRA
Their job-sharing history goes back to 2017, when they led the then-Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s analytical work on EU exit and international trade. Their work together has also included leading on Brexit opportunities and regulatory reform in Cabinet Office.
TRA chair Nick Baird said he was delighted that two leaders of Blakely and Suarez’s quality were joining the authority at a “turbulent time” in the international-trade environment.
“They have exactly the skills and experience to lead the TRA through the changes that are needed to help UK business navigate this new world,” he said.
Meanwhile, government heritage adviser Historic England this week appointed Claudia Kenyatta and Emma Squire as “joint chief executive”. They will replace current chief Duncan Wilson when he retires from the organisation – which is an ALB of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport – in October.
Kenyatta and Squire are currently Historic England’s job-share director for the regions. Both are former DCMS officials. Kenyatta was previously director of corporate strategy at the department; Squire was director of arts heritage and tourism at DCMS until she joined HE in November 2023.
Kenyatta and Squire Photo: Historic England
Historic England chairman Neil Mendoza said the recruitment process for the organisation’s next chief executive attracted more than 200 candidates – resulting in a “very strong field” in the final stages.
“The panel and I were particularly impressed with their deep knowledge of the culture and heritage sectors, as well as insight and experience of the functioning of government,” Lord Mendoza said.
“Emma and Claudia have put considerable thought into their vision for Historic England. I have great confidence that their leadership will guide us through the coming years with clarity and purpose.”
The civil service's first director general-level job share was announced 2017 at the Department for Transport, when Polly Payne and Ruth Hannant joined the department’s Rail Group, filling the DG position left vacant when Bernadette Kelly was promoted to perm sec.
Payne and Hannant were already in a job-share partnership and had been working on higher-education reform in the Department for Education.
After DfT, Payne and Hannant moved on to DCMS, where their new role saw them serve as acting perm-sec between February and July 2023.
Earlier this year, Tessa Griffiths and Sarah Maclean were announced as the joint chief executives of DfE’s fledgling Skills England body.