Building Safety Regulator, Director of Operations

Job summary

As Director of Operations, you will lead the delivery of the Building Safety Regulator’s core operational functions for the higher risk building regime, ensuring that regulatory activity is consistent, proportionate and capable of meeting statutory requirements at scale. You will be accountable for continuing the transformation of the operational performance at pace and enhancing service quality and outcomes that protect residents, support the government’s priorities around economic growth, and build and sustain public confidence in the building safety system.

Reporting directly to the Chief Executive and serving as a core member of the senior leadership team, you will translate organisational strategy set by the BSR Board and regulatory policy into high-quality delivery on the ground. You will set operational direction and standards, embed robust controls and case-management disciplines, and ensure that risk compliance and assurance are integral to day-to-day operations across diverse, multi-site teams of circa 400 people.

You will be responsible for designing and implementing the Target Operating Model (TOM) for BSR’s operational functions, ensuring the design work currently underway is translated into a coherent, scalable and high-performing operational model. You will oversee the practical delivery of TOM changes, embedding new structures, processes and ways of working that support effective regulation.

You will shape how BSR operates in practice, building capability and capacity, strengthening systems and processes including digital investment and capability building to support the move to an insight-led organisation, and leading delivery through ongoing change and scrutiny. Your leadership will be central to creating a high-performing regulator whose operational model is resilient today and adaptable to the future evolution of the regulatory system.

Job description

Operational Performance and Delivery
Set and lead a high-confidence performance regime that delivers BSR’s statutory functions, including the higher-risk building regime, at scale. Define enterprise-level targets, assuring quality, consistency, and timeliness of decisions, and drive the transformation of operational performance and continuous improvement so that outcomes build public and sector confidence and withstand Board-level scrutiny.

Regulation and Compliance
Lead the end-to-end delivery of frontline regulatory activity, ensuring inspection, assessment, permissions, and enforcement are risk-informed, legally robust, and consistently applied nationwide. You will ensure that operational practice effectively translates policy intent into credible regulatory decisions, whilst modernising regulatory processes and strengthening the use of data and digital tools to protect residents and drive compliance.

Operational Capability, Systems and Resilience
Build and embed a modern, scalable operating model, including workforce (circa 400+ people), case-management, data, digital platforms, and operational controls, that strengthens capability and capacity across BSR. Within the operational space, you will lead the implementation of the Target Operating Model currently in development, ensuring that design decisions are translated into coherent, auditable, and efficient end-to-end processes. You will drive digital improvement and investment to strengthen case-handling, performance management, and insight-led decision-making, ensuring that the operational platform can adapt rapidly to changing demand, emerging risks and external scrutiny while maintaining service continuity.

Leadership, Culture and Continuous Improvement
Provide visible, values-led leadership across large, multi-disciplinary teams, setting clear accountabilities, fostering an inclusive and learning culture. Lead confidently through transformation and change, embedding continuous improvement and demonstrating robust system thinking and ensuring operational decisions reflect the wider government and regulatory landscape, as the organisation matures into a trusted, modern regulator.

Stakeholder engagement
As Director of Operations, you will be expected to lead and support engagement with a wide range of key stakeholders. This includes engagement across the political landscape, including with the sponsor department MHCLG. You will also need to engage effectively with other high-priority stakeholders including community and representative groups, as well as senior industry/sector representatives.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate experience in:

• Leading the transformation of complex operational delivery, ideally within a public body, regulator or system-leading organisation, with accountability for multi-site statutory or high-risk operations under external scrutiny.
• Driving organisational-wide operational performance, setting performance frameworks, using data and assurance to diagnose issues, and delivering sustained improvements in quality, timeliness, and outcomes in a risk-based environment.
• Leading risk-informed regulatory or compliance-led operations, ensuring legally robust, consistent frontline decisions that translate policy intent into effective operational delivery.
• Transforming and building operational capability and operating models, including workforce capacity, case-management systems, data, and controls, to support resilient and scalable service delivery through change.
• Providing senior, values-led leadership, building high-performing, inclusive teams, empowering senior leaders, and delivering reliably through ambiguity, organisational change and rising demand.
• Operating in politically sensitive environments and managing challenging stakeholders with sound judgement and authority.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience of working within the built environment and / or with the construction sector.
• Experience of building regulations or the Building Safety Act.
• Experience of working with multi-disciplinary teams.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £100,000, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £28,970 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 2 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.

Guaranteed Interview Schemes - MHCLG 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.

The Panel - Charlie Pugsley, Acting Chief Executive Officer of BSR, 2 other panel members TBC. 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: 26th April 2026

• Shortlisting: W/C 27th April 2026

• Assessments: W/C 4th May 2026

• Interviews: W/C 11th May

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

Salary​ - For external appointments, remuneration for this role is advertised at £100,000 pa plus a bonus opportunity depending on performance (within the normal Civil Service pay arrangements) and attractive pension. ​

​

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 SCSPB2 – 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.​

​

Future pay awards will normally be made in line with current SCS performance-related pay arrangements.​

Eligibility​ - This post is advertised on level transfer or promotion to existing civil servants, and externally.

Full Information & Benefits - Find out everything you need to know before applying here.

You must review the following information from the MHCLG Career's Site before submitting your application. This step is essential to ensure your eligibility for the role and that your application is completed correctly.

• Security Clearance Requirements

• Civil Service Nationality Requirements

• Right to Work

• Artificial Intelligence

• Civil Service Code and Recruitment Principles

• CV Declaration

• Sponsorships

• Salary and Grade

• Existing Civil Servants

• Conflict of Interest

• Location and Flexible Working

• Fixed Term Contracts

• Internal Fraud Database - Internal Fraud Register

• Appeals and Complaints

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. 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

Further information

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 Resourcing team - 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

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 MHCLG Resourcing Hub at scs.recruitment@communities.gov.uk.

If the MHCLG Resourcing Hub is unable to satisfactorily resolve your complaint, you may contact put your complaint in writing to the Civil Service Commission, Room G8,1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ or by email to: info@csc.gov.uk

Attachments

BSR - Director Operations- Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 369kB)