The Intellectual Property Office has launched a recruitment campaign for its next chief executive following the departure of Tim Moss.
The agency is offering a salary of £100-105,000-per-year but said “more may be available for an exceptional candidate”.
Moss left the organisation last month after five years in the post to join the Welsh Government as chief operating officer.
The IPO is an executive agency of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and is responsible for the UK’s intellectual property system.
The chief exec is the organisation’s accounting officer, also holding the roles of comptroller general of patents and registrar of trademarks and designs. They are responsible for the strategy and operation of the IPO, which has a turnover of £164m and more than 1,700 staff, most of which are based in Newport.
They are also expected to be a “global leader in intellectual property, influencing and developing global policy”, according to the job advert.
The chosen candidate will be asked to stay in the role for three years minimum “to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes”.
In a foreword in the job application pack, Jo Shanmugalingam, director general for science, innovation and growth at BEIS, said the next chief exec will take over at a “hugely exciting time” for the IPO, as it delivers on the governments innovation strategy, but also a "challenging one", due to "unprecedented" demand.
The IPO said earlier this summer it had experienced two of the busiest years in its history with Covid-19 and Brexit causing “considerable challenges” on top of record numbers of applications and amendment requests.
The chief exec “will need to have the energy and experience” to balance the IPO’s ambitions with this increased demand, while making the organisation more efficient, Shanmugalingam said.
She said the IPO is “looking for someone who can provide strong visible leadership; drive a robust, inclusive end user-focused culture; and represent the IPO on the international stage”.
Shanmugalingam added that she is committed to ensuring the IPO "looks far and wide for the best talent", encouraging applicants from diverse backgrounds to apply.
The role is based in Newport but will include "significant" domestic and international travel.
Like other IPO staff, the chief exec will be expected to be on-site for around one day per week, according to the advert, contrasting with new business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg’s push for much higher levels of office in his time as a Cabinet Office minister.
The closing date for applications is 11.55pm on 3 October.