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Every senior career builds up a sense of what an exceptional organisation could look like: how it decides, how its people work together, and how it earns trust. For a governance leader, that picture is sharper still. Most spend their careers improving systems they inherited. Few get the chance to design one. This is that chance.

Sussex & Brighton Strategic Authority is new, and the important things are still being decided. We have cross-party support, a prosperity strategy and a growing investment capability, and elected members from all three Constituent Councils are closely involved in our work. Our culture, our ways of working and our governance are open to the leaders we appoint now. We are lean by design and determined to work differently.

Our region gives that work real weight. Brighton & Hove, Crawley and Gatwick sit alongside market towns, rural communities and a coastline stretching from Chichester to Hastings. Each has its own strengths, and each faces challenges that need fresh thinking. Good governance is how we earn the trust to tackle them.

That is why we have created this post deliberately: a chief governance officer with responsibility for the whole system of governance, accountability and assurance, and the standing to make it count. The timing makes it exceptional. Fire and rescue functions transfer to us in April 2027, our first Mayor is elected in May 2028, and Government is moving more powers, funding and accountability to strategic authorities that can show they are ready. Joining in 2027, you will build our arrangements ahead of each change, so that strong governance becomes the reason we can move quickly and be trusted with more.

As our Monitoring Officer you will be one of the Authority’s three statutory officers. Reporting to the Chief Executive and working alongside the Section 73 Officer, you will share responsibility for the lawfulness, propriety and financial integrity of everything the Authority does, and your statutory duties will be yours alone to discharge.  An established directorate, including a Deputy Monitoring Officer who as Head of Legal must be legally qualified, means your time goes on leadership rather than casework.

You might be a serving Monitoring Officer or deputy, a chartered governance professional from health, policing, fire, higher education or an arm’s-length body, an accountability specialist from central government or audit, or a head of assurance. A legal qualification is welcome but not essential. What matters is that you have designed and run governance frameworks, worked closely with leaders and boards, and given unwelcome advice and stood by it. Your expertise matters, and so does how you lead.

In return, you will join our Leadership Team by right, as one of three senior leaders we are appointing now, for law, governance and compliance, finance and investment, and people. Together you will build a leadership team that challenges convention and creates an organisation people want to join. You will have direct access to the Chief Executive, the Board, its Chair and committee chairs, statutory protection and resourcing written into our Constitution, a voice in the national networks shaping strategic authority governance, and support for your professional development.

Bring everything you’ve learned. Then go further. So, what will you build?

Key Contacts For a confidential discussion about this role, please contact the following consultants at our recruitment partner, Tile Hill, who will be happy to answer any questions that are not covered here:

Mark Bearn, Associate Director: mark.bearn@tile-hill.co.uk 07747 181490

Anita Denton, Associate Researcher: anita.denton@tile-hill.co.uk 07725 554802 

Company: Sussex & Brighton Strategic Authority

Salary: c£120,000

Location: Hybrid, working across Sussex. Relocation support available, East Sussex

Sector: Corporate Services

Sector: Corporate Management Team

Sector: Legal

Job Role: Director