UK Government Investments, the Treasury’s arm’s-length body that oversees publicly-owned businesses, has started recruiting for a chief executive to replace Mark Russell, who is leaving the post to chair the Ministry of Defence’s buying agency Defence Equipment and Support.
UKGI oversees the government’s ownership of and investments in 22 businesses including majority-owned banks, Channel 4 and Ordnance Survey, and the job advert says Russell’s successor will act as advisor to ministers and senior civil servants on a wide range of corporate finance issues. The new chief will develop strategies for government-owned businesses and other assets with the rest of UKGI’s senior leadership team and will need “substantial corporate finance experience” across areas including mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, privatisations and nationalisation and strategic planning.
The job ad says that candidates are likely to be corporate financiers with proven leadership skills, who can demonstrate their effectiveness in working in a government and public sector context and a track record of operating at board level.
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Applicants are expected to have worked at a senior level with government on a major transaction or similar, and to have a strong track record of managing complex stakeholders and building effective networks, and a proven ability to lead staff in a professional services context.
The salary is in the range of £200,000 to £230,000 for the post, which is equivalent to director general level.
UKGI’s new head will also prepare and execute all significant corporate asset sales by the government and advise on all major UK government financial interventions into corporate structures. In recent years, UKGI has supported the government’s examination of the now-collapsed outsourcing firm Carillion, and negotiated the undertakings required by government in two major corporate takeovers – the Melrose takeover of GKN and Softbank’s acquisition of ARM.
The closing date for applications is 9 October.