City Council Looks For £65k 'Head of Policy' To Drive Recovery

MANCHESTER City Council is recruiting a new Head of City Policy, tasked with getting the city back on the road to recovery.

Confidential found the job advert on psjobsearch.co.uk for the £65,000 a year role, which has opened up due to the existing postholder taking another job within the council. The role also falls under the remit of AGMA, the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities.

What will the successful candidate be expected to do? Well, according to the ad, when you’ve cut through all the recruitment jargon, you’ll be leading a small team to try and make Manchester a place to do business – or as the ad says: ‘to create the conditions that will enable and drive economic growth.’

"We can’t help but wonder…if it’s such an important job, why didn’t we know it existed before we saw the advert?"

The ad also says that the team – ‘which is undergoing service redesign (sounds like job cuts to us) will integrate the key corporate policy functions for economy, housing, planning and transport and will include management responsibility for resource procurement.’

You will also lead ‘a corporate approach to policy activity across the organisation, driving forward policy and strategic thinking as one Council.’

Presumably alongside the 837 quangos that already exist to do that, such as Cityco, MIDAS, the Chamber, Marketing Manchester, Visit Manchester, New Economy, Corridor and the rest of them.

The person they’re looking for will also provide ‘an external leadership role for the city, driving our ability to shape the key national, regional and sub-regional relationships and organisational arrangements that influence and shape the context in which we pursue our growth aspirations.’

They’re looking for ‘a strategic thinker with a strong track record in strategic policy analysis and strategy development in relation to economic, social and sustainability issues.’

You’ll also need ‘strong, visible and positive leadership and team working skills with a proven ability to forge and manage complex public and private partnerships to build positive working relationships, negotiate with and influence other partners and organisations.’

No doubt it sounds like one of the most important jobs in the city and it comes with a salary to match, but we can’t help but wonder…if it’s such an important job, why didn’t we know it existed before we saw the advert?

The closing date for applications is Monday 4 July 2011. Dust off you CVs, and if any of you get the job, I want a 10 per cent fee.