The Cabinet Office has launched a call for applicants to succeed Simon Case as the nation's top civil servant, hours after the current cab sec confirmed he will step down at the end of this year.
Case's announcement was long expected after he took a period of sick leave last year. In recent weeks, reports of clashes with Keir Starmer's chief of staff Sue Gray fuelled fresh anticipation about the cabinet secretary's departure.
In a statement yesterday, Case insisted that his decision to quit was "solely to do" with his health, following his diagnosis with a neurological condition 18 months ago.
Last month, Starmer pledged there would be an open recruitment process to find the next cabinet secretary. The Cabinet Office's recruitment drive, which has now gone live, appears to underscore a willingness to not to limit applications to currently serving senior officials.
The role, which is being advertised with a salary of "circa £200,000" a year – broadly in line with Case's most recently published salary details of £200,000-£205,000 in 2022-23 – does not explicitly exclude applicants from outside the civil service.
Instead, it stresses the need to "command credibility with senior politicians and colleagues across Whitehall" and the importance of "exceptional leadership skills".
The job description says that a "significant proportion" of the cab sec's role involves "leading through permanent secretaries of departments".
"Commanding the confidence and respect of this group is critical to ensure they are working across boundaries and delivering the mission-led approach to government," it adds.
The person specification for the role, at the helm of the 500,000-strong civil service, also underscores the need to unite the government's 40 departments and hundreds of arm's-length bodies.
It says the "essential" attributes for the successful candidate must include "a track record of working with others to deliver common goals and objectives, coupled with an ability to build deep collaborative partnerships across Whitehall, with arm's-length bodies and third-party organisations".
While Case was briefly permanent secretary of No.10 before he was appointed as cab sec in the summer of 2020, he never served as the top civil servant of a major government department.
At a hearing of parliament's Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee shortly after he took up his current post, Case admitted that there were "gaps" in his experience because he had never led a large department.
However, Case said he had discussed the situation with "a number of former cabinet secretaries" and had been assured that it was not an issue.
In his evidence to the Covid Inquiry, Dominic Cummings – Boris Johnson's former chief adviser – said Case had not originally sought the cab sec job, but had taken it to stop the then PM from making "a disastrous appointment".
Sharon White rules herself out of contention
Former Treasury second permanent secretary Dame Sharon White has featured in several speculative runners-and-riders lists to succeed Case.
However, the formal launch of the recruitment campaign reveals that White – most recently chair of retail giant John Lewis Partnership – will not be throwing her hat into the ring.
White is sitting on the Civil Service Commission recruitment panel that will vet shortlisted candidates to be Case's successor at interviews early next month.
She is joined by former cab sec Lord Gus O'Donnell, Ministry of Defence lead non-executive director Brian McBride, and first civil service commissioner Baroness Gisela Stuart.
White played down the likelihood of a return to the civil service in an interview on BBC current affairs show Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg over the summer. Her presence on the recruitment panel for Case's replacement is effective confirmation that she does not intend to apply.
Other candidates for the role are expected to include Ministry of Justice perm sec Dame Antonia Romeo; Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs perm sec Tamara Finkelstein; Department for Energy Security and Net Zero perm sec Jeremy Pocklington; Department for Work and Pensions perm sec Sir Peter Schofield; and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government perm sec Sarah Healey.
Former civil servants who have been touted as potential candidates include former MHCLG perm sec Dame Melanie Dawes; Olly Robbins, former perm sec of the Department for Exiting the European Union; and Baroness Minouche Shafik, former perm sec at the Department for International Development.
The cabinet secretary role is open to applications until 11:55pm on 20 October.