Building Safety Regulator, Deputy Director, Strategy and Change

Job summary

​This post will be in the Building Safety Regulator, not MHCLG. BSR is a non-executive departmental body of MHCLG, BSR staff are not civil servants, but retain access to civil service pensions and civil service jobs. It is equivalent in pay scale to a civil service Pay band 1 post, as indicated on this advert.

We are seeking an exceptional, delivery-focused, leader to establish and lead a new Strategy and Change team within the Building Safety Regulator (BSR). This role will play a key part in shaping and delivering the BSR’s transformation, ensuring the organisation is set up to operate effectively, efficiently and sustainably within a complex and high-profile regulatory environment. This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of building safety regulation in England as the BSR establishes itself as a non-departmental public body of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), following its transition from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The BSR plays a central role in delivering the Government’s building safety reforms following the Grenfell Tower tragedy. It oversees the new regulatory regime for higher-risk buildings (HRBs), the building control profession, technical standards, and the competence of professionals across the built environment.

Job description

An experienced and strategic senior leader is required to establish and lead the Strategy and Change function within the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) at a critical point in its development.

This role will play a central part in shaping and delivering the BSR’s transformation, establishing strong governance and assurance frameworks to support effective decision-making, risk management and organisational performance.

The postholder will lead the design and implementation of a Target Operating Model (TOM) that aligns strategy, corporate services, digital capability and operational delivery into a coherent whole.

You will be a key member of the BSR’s leadership team, reporting to the Director of Risk, Regulatory Policy, Strategy and Change, and play a central role in shaping and driving the strategic direction of the BSR, ensuring that organisational design, capability and culture are aligned to delivering long-term regulatory and operational priorities.

Working closely with the Chief Operating Officer and across the wider senior leadership team, you will drive the build-out of corporate services and lead the delivery of a clear and integrated programme of organisational and cultural change. You will ensure digital transformation is aligned to and supports wider organisational transformation through improved efficiency, performance and service delivery, while inspiring high-performing, collaborative and accountable ways of working across the BSR.

You will also work closely with MHCLG to help shape and build the foundations for a future single construction regulator, ensuring alignment between organisational design, regulatory policy and long-term system reform.

This is a high-impact role requiring strong strategic leadership, a track record of delivering large-scale organisational transformation, and the ability to operate with confidence in a complex, multi-stakeholder and politically sensitive environment.

Person specification

As Deputy Director – Strategy and Change, you will:

• Lead the overall transformation strategy for the BSR, setting clear direction and ensuring delivery of a coherent, organisation-wide programme of change, underpinned by strong governance, assurance and performance management frameworks.
• Design and implement a Target Operating Model (TOM) that aligns regulatory delivery, corporate services and enhanced digital capability and data insight into a single, effective operating model, positioning the BSR to support future regulatory reform.
• Develop, get approved and implement a Programme business case to deliver the BSR’s transformation strategy, digital transformation programme and effective operational delivery for 27/28 and 29/30.
• Work closely with the Chief Operating Officer to build and embed corporate services, ensuring they are scalable, efficient and fully aligned to the operating model.
• Drive organisational alignment and integration, ensuring strategy, corporate functions, operational delivery and organisational culture operate as a cohesive whole.
• Establish and strengthen governance and assurance frameworks across the BSR, ensuring clear decision-making, effective risk management, and robust oversight of transformation and operational delivery.
• Develop and lead a forward looking high-performing Strategy and Change function, building capability in transformation, programme delivery and organisational design and culture change, while contributing as a core member of the BSR Senior Leadership Team and working with MHCLG on future regulatory reform.

Essential Criteria:

• A strong track record of leading and delivering large-scale organisational transformation, achieving measurable improvements in performance, efficiency and outcomes.
• Ability to set and drive organisational strategy at a senior level, aligning resources, capability and delivery to achieve long-term objectives in complex environments.
• Proven capability in designing and implementing Target Operating Models, translating strategy into practical organisational design and delivery.
• A well-developed understanding of governance and assurance, with the ability to establish frameworks that support effective decision-making, risk management and performance oversight.
• Strong understanding of how corporate services and digital delivery enable organisational effectiveness, with a track record of building central functions and driving digital-enabled efficiencies.
• Track record of leading and embedding culture change as part of organisational transformation, fostering high-performing, accountable and collaborative ways of working.
• Outstanding leadership and influencing skills, with the ability to build high-performing teams and operate effectively at senior levels in complex or politically sensitive environments.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £81,000, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £23,465 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

Introduction: This post will be in the Building Safety Regulator. BSR is a non-executive departmental body, so BSR staff are not civil servants, but retain access to civil service pensions and civil service jobs. It is equivalent in pay scale to a civil service Pay band 1 post, as indicated on the CS Job advert

How to Apply - To apply you will need to submit a CV and Statement of Suitability via the Be Applied link. Your CV (up to two pages) should set out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years. Your Statement of Suitability (up to two pages) should explain how your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential and desirable criteria for the role.

Equal Opportunities - We encourage candidates to complete the Equal Opportunities Monitoring Data via Be Applied. The data will be treated in the strictest confidence and used for monitoring and statistical purposes only.

Interview Schemes - BSR is a Disability Confident employer and is committed to protecting and promoting the physical and mental health of all colleagues and applicants. We also operate the Great Place to Work for Veterans and Redeployment schemes. Applicants applying under these schemes who meet the essential criteria will be guaranteed an interview. Applicants applying under these schemes who meet the essential criteria, will be invited to interview.

ThePanel - Victoria Molho - Hiring Manager, John Palmer - MHCLG Director and Catherine Adams - MHCLG Director. Additionally, the panel may be joined by one of our staff representatives from a pool of volunteers as part of our commitments to diversity and inclusion.

Shortlist - Applications will be sifted after the closing date and shortlisted candidates will be invited to the next phase of assessment and interview. Your CV and Statement of Suitability will be assessed against the essential criteria, these will also be used to form the basis of the panel’s final interview questions. Desirable criteria will only be used to determine the merit order of candidates who rank evenly against the essential criteria.

Assessment - Shortlisted candidates may be invited to attend a Staff Engagement Panel, designed to provide insight into how you engage and interact with your team. Feedback from the session is passed to the panel for consideration alongside your final interview.

Candidates may also be invited to meet with a Senior Stakeholder. This is not a formal part of selection, but an informal chance to find out more about the role and organisation.

Shortlisted candidates may also be invited to give a short presentation or complete an exercise at interviews - further details will be provided when invited to interview.

Feedback - This will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Expected Timeline

• Advert closes: 14th June 2026

• Shortlisting: W/C 15th June 2026

• Assessments: W/C 22nd June 2026

• Interviews: W/C 29th June 2026

*Please note that we try to offer flexibility where possible, but it may not always be possible to offer alternative interview dates.

Terms & Conditions

Salary​ - Remuneration for this role is £81,000 per annum.

​For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable. If appointed on promotion you would get the higher of 10% uplift or the new minimum for SCSPB1 – Deputy Director. Please also note that, if successful, any existing specialist allowances you currently receive will not automatically transfer or be retained upon moving to this role.

Contract - This is a fixed term role, offered on a 12-18 month basis. As the BSR is a NDPB, if you are a current Civil Servant, this opportunity will be available to you via a secondment. This role is full-time and is suitable for a job share. BSR encourages flexible working. Full‑time working hours are 37 hours per week. ​

​Security Clearance - All BSR roles require candidates to meet the Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS)to confirm identity and employment history. This successful candidate must also hold Security Check (SC)clearance, which can take up to eight weeks. All offers are conditional on successful completion of the required checks, and candidates should not resign from their current role until clearance is confirmed. Further information is available in the Cabinet Office HMG Personnel Security Controls.​

​Near Miss Offers - Please note that near miss offers may be made at the lower grade to candidates who do not meet the grade criteria for this campaign.

Annual leave - You will be entitled to 25 days leave, increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years’ service. In addition to this you are entitled to 8 public/bank holidays plus an additional day for the King's Birthday. The allowance is pro-rated for part-time staff. With competitive maternity, paternity and parental leave we also recognise the importance of a good work-life balance and offer flexible working and a family friendly approach to work.

Terms of benefits​

• Defined benefit pension scheme (a career average basis for new recruits).​
• Occupational Health Services.​
• Access to health and wellbeing support.​
• Leave provisions including carers’ leave, paid and additional unpaid maternity leave, paid paternity leave and paid adoption leave, volunteering leave.​

Conflict of interest​
Candidates must note the requirement to declare any interests that might cause questions to be raised about their approach to the business of the Department. If you believe that you may have a conflict of interest, please contact SCS.recruitment@communities.gov.uk before submitting your application.​

Appeals and complaints​

If you are unsure about any part of the process or require additional information about the post to enable you to progress your application you should speak to the SCS recruitment team at SCS.recruitment@communities.gov.uk ​

• ​
• Candidates can appeal at any stage of the recruitment process if they believe there has been:​
• a procedural irregularity;​
• an infringement of the Civil Service equal opportunities policy; or​
• exceptional circumstances which were not notified to the interview panel which might have affected performance on the day​

​It is important to note that these are appeals about the process not the decision. In the first instance, an appeal should be directed to the team at SCS.recruitment@communities.gov.uk. ​

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.This role has a minimum assignment duration of 18 months. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : SCS recruitment
• Email : scs.recruitment@communities.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : scs.recruitment@communities.gov.uk