The next leader of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority will be tasked with expanding the role of the joint Treasury and Cabinet Office agency into more major projects across the public sector, the job advert for the role has revealed.
The posting said that the successor to Tony Meggs, who will also lead the government project delivery function, would continue to work to "support their successful delivery and to secure the economic and social benefits from critical projects and programmes" across government.
In a foreword in the candidate pack for the role, civil service chief executive John Manzoni said the IPA was "essential to the success of the civil service at a time of critical importance to the country as we seek to deliver effective and efficient public services against the backdrop of challenging fiscal conditions and significant change.
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"I expect the next CEO of the IPA to build upon the strong foundations and lead the organisation to its full potential. This leader will have an opportunity to accelerate the improvements we are making to IPA, working with the strong senior leadership team now in post to fully embrace developments in technology and digital ways of working to propel the organisation to the next level," he said. In particular, there would be an opportunity "to grow the IPA's footprint in the wider public sector".
He added: "There has never been a more interesting and critical time to join our team of brilliant civil servants on a mission to strengthen the UK economy and deliver savings to the UK taxpayer, through innovative, efficient and effective public sector procurement."
The job became available after Meggs was named as the next chair of the Crossrail rail project. IPA's deputy chief executive, Matthew Vickerstaff, is currently acting as interim chief executive.
The post is confirmed as a pay band three role in the senior civil service, while external applicants can expect to achieve circa £190,000 per annum. This is around the same salary as Meggs, who was paid between £190,000-194,999 as of 30 September 2018, according to Cabinet Office data.
The closing date for applications is 27 January, with assessments of shortlisted applicants set to begin in the week beginning 4 March. There will be a pre-interview informal discussion with Manzoni in the same week or the following week, and with the Cabinet Office minister for implementation Oliver Dowden, with final interviews on Friday 15 March. It is expected an appointment will be made at the end of March.