(Still) wanted: Someone to run NI civil service – for £188k p/a

A second recruitment competition has been launched to find a new head of Northern Ireland’s civil service.
By Adam Kula
Published 18th Mar 2021, 21:19 BST
Jenny Pyper, the current holder of the top civil service jobJenny Pyper, the current holder of the top civil service job
Jenny Pyper, the current holder of the top civil service job

It comes after First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill failed to agreed a permanent appointment last year.

Jenny Pyper was installed as interim chief in December for eight months.

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The former head of the civil service David Sterling retired last year.

The role includes serving as the Stormont Executive’s principal policy adviser and leader of 23,000 civil servants.

It comes with a salary between £160,563 and £188,272.

For contrast, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s combined MP and ministerial salary is just over £161,000.

In a joint statement, Mrs Foster and Ms O’Neill said they want to recruit a “highly skilled leader”.

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“The role of head of the civil service is right at the very heart of public life and public service for all our citizens here. The work of the civil service influences all our public services, impacting all of us,” they said.

“We want to recruit a highly skilled leader as our principal policy advisor and leader of the NI Civil Service, providing support, counsel and challenge to us, the Executive as a whole and to the NI Civil Service.”

Mr Sterling had given 10-months’ notice that he was leaving, beginning in December 2019.

But as this paper’s own Sam McBride has reported, “inexplicably, the job was not advertised until mid-July”, over six months later.

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In a joint statement last October, Mrs Foster and Ms O’Neill blamed the pandemic for the delay in appointing someone – even though Mr Sterling revealed his intent to stand down before anyone had even heard of coronavirus, and three months before the virus had arrived in Northern Ireland.

It is understood that by October 2020, six people had been interviewed, all current or former Stormont officials.

Of those six, Sue Gray, Richard Pengelly and Peter May got to the second stage which involved being interviewed by Mrs Foster and Ms O’Neill.

Candidates were scored in four areas: seeing the big picture, leading and communicating, delivering at pace, and taking effective decisions.

Out of 80 possible marks, they had to score at least 56.

All were ultimately rejected.

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It is thought that Mrs Foster and Ms O’Neill had been hoping for a strong crop of applicants from outside the civil service.

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