Executive Director, Economic Growth & Neighbourhood Services c. £130k
Assistant Director, Digital Transformation to £92k
Thank you for your interest in these vital roles at Reading Council. I’m really excited by our potential to build on our current position, continuing to extend our reputation as an exemplar of sustained good growth in the UK. Some of that requires physical development – and our pipeline here, while healthy, can always be enhanced – while other aspects will be rooted in the role of both cultural and ‘place’ capital. In both roles, however, you’ll be consolidating our recent achievements, and driving the council’s ambition and achievement onwards to reach its full potential as a regional leader.
We’ve already made an exciting start. The former grounds of Reading Abbey have been restored and transformed into a unique focal point for the town, and the new Abbey Quarter includes Reading Museum, and Reading Gaol. Sitting alongside with the business district, which itself is close to the station, it creates a first-class environment for business growth, right in the heart of town. Improvements to connectivity (a new station and dedicated bus corridors) have laid the groundwork to make the most of Crossrail’s arrival in 2019.
Our internal change programme, supported by members, has delivered multiples of ROI and will continue for the foreseeable future. We’re focused on building our capacity for strategic intervention in the development and economy of the town, and that’s been underpinned by investment in our own staff, ensuring we’re equipped to guide that growth and provide quality local services to our rapidly expanding population.
This new Executive Director, Economic Growth & Neighbourhood Services role carries responsibility for a range of environmental services, and will be even more attuned to place-shaping, and securing good quality, sustainable economic and housing growth. And there’s no question that it’s also about growing our own long-term income streams. We want to see the pace of housing delivery quicken in Reading, which was one of the drivers behind setting up our own housing company, Homes for Reading. Thus far we’ve focused on purchasing and renting out existing property, and the new Executive Director will play a key role in expanding the business into developing new homes.
I’m also looking for an impressive candidate to take on what we believe is the complete digital role – Assistant Director, Digital Transformation. Reading was recently ranked the UK’s top regional technology centre in the KPMG Tech Monitor, and we’ve world-class internet infrastructure. So in a town where 20% of companies are tech firms, with big names like with Microsoft, Huawei and Symantec choosing Reading, we need to ensure that the council’s digital strategy and proposition can be compared favourably with these global peers.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Peter Sloman
Chief Executive