HM Treasury has launched a recruitment campaign to find a chief executive to lead the government's new National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority, which is due to go live in the spring.
A job advertisement for the role offers £200,000 a year for the Senior Civil Service pay band 3 role, which will see the successful applicant also serve as head of the government's project delivery function. On top of the salary, the job comes with a civil service pension.
NISTA will combine the functions of the current National Infrastructure Commission and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority. Its creation is a result of the Labour Party's Major Capital Projects Review, conducted while the party was still in opposition.
In a speech in October, chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones said NISTA would "get a grip" on delays to infrastructure delivery that he said had "plagued" the UK's global reputation with investors.
According to the advertisement for the role, the NISTA chief exec will lead a team of around 240 civil servants and "advise on the improvement of quality, cost, schedule, performance and project outcomes".
They will have oversight of the government’s highest-profile infrastructure and transformation programmes, with a remit to apply "independent and expert judgment" to improve efficiency, assess and escalate risks and "take corrective action" to maximise projects' success.
The chief executive will also work with ministers, HM Treasury permanent secretary James Bowler and departmental accounting officers to manage "capacity and capability" on the Government Major Projects Portfolio. The GMPP includes projects such as HS2, the Government Hubs and Whitehall Campus Programme, and scores of Ministry of Defence programmes.
Additionally, they will be responsible for leading on the design and delivery of NISTA’s full scope, transitioning functions from the IPA and NIC, and establishing the organisation as an "authoritative and respected new body within government".
The recruitment campaign, which is being run by global consultancy Korn Ferry, describes leadership of high-profile, multi-billion-pound projects of comparable complexity and risk to GMPP schemes as a "must-have" for candidates.
Other essential experience includes successfully developing and sustaining high-performing teams and building organisational capability. HM Treasury also wants "significant experience of effectively advising on strategy, action and compliance on high-risk projects and programmes".
Writing in the candidate pack for the role, Cabinet Office permanent secretary Cat Little and Treasury second perm sec Beth Russell describe the NISTA chief exec as being "at the centre of government's plans for infrastructure and growth".
"The role will have responsibility for implementing the government’s new 10-year infrastructure strategy, reforming the way we plan, assure and deliver infrastructure and other major projects, overseeing the government’s project delivery function and capability and leading the expertise on project delivery and project financing," they said.
"The publication of the 10-year infrastructure strategy will provide greater certainty for investors and supply chains, removing barriers to investment and creating an environment that supports private investment.
"The chief executive of NISTA will directly shape government policy and drive delivery of the government’s major projects worth hundreds of billions of pounds that will transform the country and improve the lives of British people."
Little and Russell will be members of the interview panel for shortlisted candidates, alongside NIC chair Sir John Armitt. Interviews are expected to take place in early March.
According to the job advertisement, the chief executive could be based in London, Leeds or Birmingham.
Applications for the role are open until 20 January.