Executive Director, Large Scale Facilities and Head of Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
UK Research and Innovation
Apply before 11:55 pm on Sunday 27th October 2024
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About the job
Job summary
About The Role
The role will hold corporate responsibility, as a member of STFC’s Executive Board, for strategic planning and decision making, implementation of STFC’s Strategic Delivery Plan and monitoring, evaluation and improvement of corporate performance.
The Executive Director of Large Scale Facilities will have responsibility for the delivery, and development of world-class, national multidisciplinary scientific facilities, including the ISIS Neutron and Muon Spallation Source, the Central Laser Facility, and RAL Space, as well as oversight of the Diamond Light Source. A key element of the role is to ensure STFC maintains its position as a global leader in science and technology and the development of large-scale multi-disciplinary facilities. The role holder will also act as the Head of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.
The role will be based at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, but will require the Executive Director to provide leadership spanning all of the National Laboratory sites, in concert with the STFC Executive Director for Science and Technology.
Job description
Further responsibilities for the role:
Corporate Responsibilities
- Take a visible leadership role as a key member of STFC’s Executive Board
- Share corporate accountability for the delivery of STFC’s Vision and Strategic Delivery Plan, oversee development of future strategy, policy and plans to optimise delivery of STFC’s objectives, ensure effective corporate governance and meeting of our statutory obligations; and continuously improve STFC’s overall performance
- Act as a role model and champion for STFC’s organisational values, equality, diversity and inclusion principles
- Act as a senior ambassador for STFC at international, national and local levels
- Work in close collaboration with other Executive Directors to:
- Provide strategic support to drive our people performance
- Strengthen strategic relationships with key universities, Research and Technology organisations and other international facilities
- Maximise the exploitation and impact of our science for industry
- Reflect and enable the vision and objectives of UK Research and Innovation
- Representative STFC on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus (HSIC JV) Board
- Attend the SIL – STFC Innovations Ltd board
- Represent, present and advocate for STFC to senior external stakeholders
Directorate Responsibilities
- Be accountable for strategic direction and delivery across STFC’s National Laboratories and act as strategic lead for the organisation in this regard
- Provide leadership of the National Laboratories’ Large Scale Facilities and high-level management of their staff to ensure that all objectives and outputs of the Directorate make a tangible contribution to STFC’s Strategic Delivery Plan
- Inspire, empower and develop the Large Scale Facilities Directorate team, including direct line management of Departmental Directors
- Lead high impact projects and Business Cases for UKRI and STFC to maintain current and develop future multi-user facilities as required
- Provide sound financial, safety and risk management of the Directorate. The resource allocation currently involves some 1,100 staff, and oversight of a recurrent budget of c.£200m and a substantial asset base
- Exploit synergies across the Facilities, Departments and co-located campus institutes and organisations to generate new opportunities and deliver enhanced outcomes
- Develop and strengthen strategic partnerships with key national and international organisations to achieve joint delivery of shared strategies and objectives, and influence investment decisions
- Work closely with the Science and Technologies Executive Director to maximise the organisational effectiveness of the National laboratories and shared delivery of STFC objectives
- Work closely with the Business and Innovation, and Programmes Directorates to increase collaborative working between academic and commercial partners; including the development of new initiatives on our Innovation Campuses
Corporate Services
- Work closely with the Department Directors, and STFC Business Partners to ensure that STFC and UKRI have:
- the necessary financial controls and reporting (reflecting Managing Public Money)
- the right people, in the right place, doing the right things, developing their skills and maximising their productivity in alignment with STFC and UKRI strategy
- appropriate governance structures, assurance as to the integrity of activities, risks that are identified and mitigated, information that is accurate and secure
- a safe and healthy working environment for all staff, workers and visitors to all STFC sites and delivery of STFC’s environmental agenda
Person specification
Essential Qualifications:
- First degree or equivalent experience in science/technology/engineering-related subject
Desirable Qualifications:
- Business-related qualifications and/or experience
- PhD in science/technology/engineering-related subject
Essential Experience:
- Significant experience in a senior leadership position in a scientific or similar organisation and the ability to gain the respect of STFC’s staff and communities
- Proven track-record of positively influencing stakeholders and attracting external collaborators/investment
- Demonstrable experience of delivering significant projects/major change at pace
- An appreciation of governance and risk management principles
- Broad-based understanding of STFC’s domain to enable oversight of performance and effective communication internally and externally
- Experience of working at a senior level with diverse internal and external stakeholders
- Experience of successfully leading and developing high performing teams to deliver high-quality and resilient operations and to enhance service delivery
- Experience of building effective cross-functional working relationships
- An appreciation, based on close management experience, of complex and strategic HR issues
- Demonstrable experience of financial planning and analysis
- Ability to travel regularly in the UK and overseas
Desirable Experience:
- Experience in or an understanding of the research and innovation sector
- Knowledge or experience of working within the public sector
- Financial management experience
- Project management experience
Key Skills:
- Proven excellent leadership skills with an ability to motivate, utilise and develop capability within a large and diverse team, ideally within an advanced technical/engineering/multidisciplinary environment
- Able to operate at strategic level with a record of translating organisational vision and strategy into operational requirements
- Excellent interpersonal skills, able to influence, build and maintain strong working relationships with a wide range of stakeholders; collaborative and consultative, an excellent communicator
- Enthusiastic, motivated, adaptable and proactive with the ability to work flexibly in a changing environment
- Results-focused with an excellent track record of continuous improvement and making challenging decisions effectively
- Strong numeracy and analytical skills
Benefits
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
Things you need to know
Selection process details
Appointment Process and How to Apply
For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Lucy Roper at: Lucy.Roper@perrettlaver.com or + (44)20 3928 7358.
Application is by submission of a curriculum vitae and a covering letter of application, addressing the job description and person specification by the deadline of 11:59pm BST on Sunday 27th October 2024.
We work to ensure that our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible to everyone. This includes making adjustments for people who have a disability or long-term condition.
If you require any reasonable adjustments to assist you in the selection process, please advise us of these so that we can make appropriate arrangements.
If you would like us to make adjustments during the application process, please contact Esther Elbro at the following email address: Esther.Elbro@perrettlaver.com. If you have comments that would support us to improve access to documentation, or our application process more generally, please do not hesitate to contact us via the following email address: accessibility@perrettlaver.com.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.
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Working for the Civil Service
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
Diversity and Inclusion
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Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : Lucy Roper
- Email : Lucy.Roper@perrettlaver.com
- Telephone : + (44)20 3928 7358
Recruitment team
- Email : Lucy.Roper@perrettlaver.com
