Former Utility Regulator to be appointed interim Civil Service boss

Mrs Pyper will fill a position left vacant since retiring Civil Service head David Sterling left his post on August 31.

The appointment has been approved by First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill.

The post is being filled on an interim basis after Mrs Foster and Ms O’Neill failed to agreed a permanent replacement for Mr Sterling.

In the last recruitment exercise, three candidates made it through to a final interview stage with the ministers in September, but Stormont’s leaders were not able to reach consensus on an appointment.

The interim head, who will not be in the running for the full-time role, is expected to occupy the position for around eight months.

She is the first woman to take up the position.

The salary range is £160,000 to £188,000 a year.

Mrs Pyper will have a packed in tray. One of her key jobs will be to head up a new taskforce to roll out Northern Ireland’s Covid-19 vaccination programme.

She will also take the helm as the Civil Service wrestles with the challenges presented by the end of Brexit transition period.

Mrs Pyper has many years of experience with the Civil Service.

Joining in 1985, she worked in several economic development roles, including tourism, enterprise and inward investment policy, sector training and development and innovation policy.

In 2004 she became director of energy policy in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment.

The married mother-of-two then took up a post as director of regional planning and transportation in the Department for Regional Development.

She was promoted to Deputy Secretary in the Department for Social Development in 2011.

She joined the Utility Regulator in 2013 and retired this autumn.

Mr Sterling announced his intention to retire last December.

During Stormont’s powersharing impasse, he was effectively in charge of running public services in Northern Ireland.

He described those three years as the “most challenging and difficult in the history of the Northern Ireland Civil Service”.