Deputy Chief Executive (Executive Director Corporate Services)

It's no Salfordinary City

Deputy Chief Executive (Executive Director Corporate Services)
Salary: £136,854 - £153,276 (+£5,000)

Salford is a bold, ambitious and values-led city, one that believes in the power of people, place and partnership to achieve extraordinary things.

As our new Deputy Chief Executive, you will join a leadership team united by a shared passion for delivering real change, driving inclusive growth, and shaping a fairer future for our residents, families and diverse communities.

This is a rare and exceptional opportunity to play a pivotal role at the heart of a council recognised for its innovation, progressive approach and commitment to social impact. Salford is a place where leaders are encouraged to be courageous, creative and purpose-driven, and where you can genuinely influence what a modern, high-performing local authority looks like, and how it delivers for its city.

You will be a collaborative, reflective and authentic human leader: someone who leads with purpose, empowers others, values engagement and champions a positive, inclusive, people-centred culture. This is a role for a leader who can bring clarity, momentum and confidence, while developing talent, strengthening culture and driving transformation at scale.

As Deputy Chief Executive, your strategic leadership will directly shape and strengthen the council’s enabling and corporate functions, including:

• Human Resources and Organisational Development
• Finance, Audit and Procurement
• Policy, Performance and Communications
• Digital, Data and Technology
• Customer Services
• Legal and Governance

You will deputise for the Chief Executive, contribute to the corporate leadership of the Council, and provide strategic leadership, direction and expert advice to the City Mayor and Elected Members in the development and delivery of the Council plan and priorities.

As the lead for enabling strategic transformation and innovation across the Council, you will champion a culture where continuous improvement, inclusion, and genuine people centred co-production shape everything we do. You will strengthen governance, value for money, accountability, customer focus and effective risk management, ensuring Salford remains resilient, future-focused and capable of delivering ambitious change with, and for, our people and communities.

Salford is a place leader and collaborator, so you will be confident in building trusted relationships with key partner organisations, including the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and a wide range of external stakeholders. You will provide strong systems leadership to drive a coordinated approach to service delivery and to ongoing change and transformation, focused on better outcomes, reducing demand, and embedding prevention and early intervention.

This role offers the opportunity to broaden and deepen your leadership impact across a whole council portfolio, strengthening your professional experience in corporate leadership, systems change, digital and organisational transformation, governance, and high-performance culture.

Join a city that is proud of who we are, and excited about where we’re going.

If you share our ambition, energy and values, and want to play a leading role in shaping a fairer, greener, digitally enabled and more inclusive Salford, we would love to hear from you.

Join a city that is proud of who we are and excited about where we're going!

Needs updated microsite and contact details and numbers
For further information go to https://leadersinsalford.info/ or contact our consultants at Penna: Kelly Ridley on 07380 193 343, Julie Towers on 07764 791 736 or Nick Raper on 07715 690 463

Recruitment timeline

The timetable below sets out the key dates in the recruitment process:

Closing date for applications - Friday 10th April 2026
Longlist meeting (no candidate involvement)- Monday 27th April 2026
Technical interviews - Thursday 30th April 2026 to Friday 30th May 2026
Shortlist meeting (no candidate involvement) - Monday 18th May 2026
Assessment centre - Tuesday 19th May 2026 to Friday 29th May 2026
Final panel interviews - Monday 1st June 2026