One of the largest local authorities in the UK has an open vacancy for an operations leader to oversee efforts to implement consistent processes and deliver digital and reform initiatives

Cornwall Council is offering a six-figure salary for a new chief operating officer to spearhead the authority’s digital transformation.

The postholder will be “a key contributor and influential member” of the organisation’s senior-leadership line-up, including the chief executive and four directors. The management sextet are expected to “work together effectively… to deliver the council’s overall strategy and business plan”.

For their part, the new COO will “focus on and have responsibility for ensuring that the council has a sustainable and viable business plan to meet its objectives, [and] to ensure the resources of the Council are directed towards the delivery of the business plan”.

As a key part of which, the operations chief will “lead on the transformation of the council, with a particular emphasis on developing and utilising Digital strategies to enable efficient and effective service delivery”.

Such reform work will encompass efforts to “embed a One Council approach across all directorates for our processes and procedures to ensure consistency and assurance”, as well as implementing “effective performance-management and supplier-management arrangements”.

The new recruit will also “own enterprise-wide systems and processes” used across the council, and “will act as the council’s lead officer for managing the relationship” with the commercial businesses owned and operated by the authority.

Related content

• A digital front door: Cornwall council’s plan to make up for underinvestment and a failed supplier partnership
• NHS services in Cornwall and Scilly remain ‘under pressure’ after outage
• Cornwall formally ends BT outsourcing relationship

The post will come with an annual salary of up £165,000, as well as responsibility for managing a yearly budget of £350m in spending.

The job advert said: “We’re looking for an outstanding, experienced and resourceful person who can grasp the breadth of our ambitions for Cornwall. We’ve made significant strides in recent years in embedding concepts such as outcomes-based budgeting, cross-council working, digital transformation and the importance of change. Your job is to consolidate these strong foundations into a fluent and integrated programme that makes things happen. Candidates must bring an impressive track record of achieving lasting change, and must know how to manage significant budgets and manage teams through a culture of continuous improvement.”

Applications for the post are open until 4 September. The recruitment process is being run by executive search outfit Faerfield.

Covering an area of about 1,400 square miles that is home to around 575,000 people, Cornwall is one of the largest public authorities in the UK by both population and geographic area.