Chief Operating Officer, Building Safety Regulator

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Hybrid

Expires: Expiring in less than 2 weeks

Full time

£81,000 per year

Job summary

In June 2025, the government announced a major reform package that included the transfer of the Building Safety Regulator from the Health and Safety Executive to a new arms-length body reporting to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. This move was designed to align building safety regulation more closely with housing and building safety policy priorities through improved accountability directly to MHCLG Ministers; move towards establishing a single construction regulator in line with recommendations from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry; and improve operational efficiency and responsiveness while delivering the shift to a safety culture within housing and buildings. The transition also aimed to enhance confidence across the sector and support the government’s ambition to accelerate the remediation of residential buildings with unsafe cladding and to accelerate housebuilding, with a target of delivering 1.5 million new homes.

The new body was formally established as a standalone organisation on 27 January. The focus now will be to stand up the new organisation’s corporate functions in a way that best supports the operations of the new BSR. This will need to be done in the context of ensuring sufficient agility and flexibility to support a future evolution into the future Single Construction Regulator – a key recommendation from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.

The BSR’s core responsibilities include:

Regulating the design, construction, and occupation of higher risk buildings.
Overseeing the competence of professionals in building control and construction.
Enforcing compliance with building safety legislation.
Engaging with residents through a statutory residents panel.
Managing registration and certification processes for building control bodies and inspectors.

Job description

This is an exceptional and strategically important opportunity to shape the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) as it transitions from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into a new Arm’s Length Body sponsored by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). You will be at the forefront of establishing the BSR’s organisational capability, driving its operational maturity, and setting the conditions for a regulator that is confident, credible and ready to meet its statutory responsibilities. The scale, profile and pace of this transformation will demand strategic leadership and the ability to inspire teams through change.

Joining at a decisive moment in the BSR’s evolution, you will help define the organisation’s long‑term direction to ensure it is equipped to respond to a rapidly changing building safety landscape. This is an opportunity to shape the identity and culture of a nationally significant regulator, influence cross‑government priorities, and contribute to a safer, more resilient housing system. For an ambitious senior leader, this is a chance to deliver lasting public value and help build an organisation with purpose at its core.

You will be an integral part of the new senior leadership of the organisation, reporting directly to the Acting Chief Executive, Charlie Pugsley, and attending the BSR Board meetings chaired by Lord Roe, the Chair of the BSR.

As Chief Operating Officer, you will provide strategic leadership of BSR’s corporate capability and lead the transition of people, systems and governance arrangements into the new ALB. Your role is to ensure that BSR enters its new statutory phase as a high-performing regulator with robust governance, clear accountabilities, effective resource planning, and a strong organisational culture. You will also directly support the Acting CEO in his role as Accounting Officer of the BSR.

As an integral member of the BSR senior leadership team, you will

lead the service relationship with HSE who are providing corporate services to BSR until internal capacity is built,
ensure the future target operating model for this is structured, resourced, and equipped to deliver its statutory functions effectively and sustainably, meets all legal and Managing Public Money requirements, and delivers value for money,
lead the implementation of the build out of the corporate centre, and
support the CEO by ensuring compliance with financial and reporting requirements in line with the Accounting Officer responsibilities.

As the Acting CEO’s principal adviser on corporate performance, organisational resilience, and long-term capability, you will also work with HSE during the transition and with MHCLG as the BSR’s sponsor to ensure the organisation is positioned to meet ministerial priorities, statutory duties, and the requirements of the Building Safety Act.

Key Accountabilities

As Chief Operating Officer you will be responsible for:

Senior Leadership, Culture and Organisational Change:

Providing visible, values driven leadership as a core member of the Senior Leadership Team, shaping an inclusive, collaborative and high-performing culture. Leading the organisation confidently through significant change as BSR transitions to full independence, and role model the Civil Service leadership behaviours. Represent the organisation confidently with stakeholders.

Leadership of Corporate Functions and Organisational Capability:

Providing strategic leadership in building and overseeing BSRs corporate centre, establishing high-performing corporate functions, including Finance, Commercial, HR, Digital and Governance, appointing appropriate Heads of Functions to lead these areas. Ensuring these functions deliver efficient, professional corporate services that drive organisational performance and underpin effective regulatory delivery. Leading the development of business planning, multiyear funding and resourcing strategies, and shape and future-proof, financially stable functions that support BSRs long-term success as a modern ALB.

Corporate Transformation and Preparing BSR for the Future:

Building out and leading the long-term corporate services required for BSR to deliver its statutory responsibilities effectively, creating a resilient corporate centre that supports a modern, confident regulator and has the infrastructure, systems, processes and workforce needed to operate independently, sustainably and confidently as an ALB.

Governance, Assurance and Organisational Accountability:

Ensuring BSR meets its statutory responsibilities and follows best practice as a public body including governance, transparency and accountability. Embedding robust risk management, performance oversight and assurance frameworks that support effective decision making and drive organisational maturity and clear, trusted reporting to the Board, CEO, Ministers and other senior stakeholders.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

Proven strategic corporate leadership in a complex public body, regulator, or system leading organisation, with the ability to shape long term organisational direction.
Strong operational and corporate leadership skills, including oversight of finance, governance, risk, and core enabling functions.
Deep understanding of public sector governance, statutory duties, and accountability frameworks, with the ability to ensure compliance and high standards of oversight.
Excellent political awareness and stakeholder leadership, exercising sound judgement and influencing effectively across organisational and system boundaries.
Experience building and leading diverse, high performing teams through complex change, maintaining clarity of purpose in ambiguous or high-pressure environments.
Be a qualified accountant or have a demonstrable willingness to qualify, ideally through actively studying for an accountancy qualification (an accountancy allowance is available to successful CCAB qualified candidates: CIMA, CIPFA, ACCA, ICAEW, ICAS, ICAI).

Desirable Criteria:

Experience in organisational design, transformation and capability building, delivering sustainable improvements at scale.
Experience operating at CFO level or equivalent senior leadership role

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

How to apply

Please click the Be Applied link to provide the required information and complete your application through the Be Applied website by 23:55 on Sunday 22 February.

You will be asked to enter some personal details, upload your CV and to provide your responses to the role’s advertised essential criteria.

When prompted to upload your CV, please upload a single document consisting of:

a CV (including the names of 2 referees and your current remuneration) setting out your career history, with key responsibilities, achievements and your academic qualifications, specifying subject and degree level achieved. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years.
a statement of suitability explaining how your personal skills, qualities and experience
provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential
criteria provided in the person specification. (max. 2 pages)

Please remember to save these two items in one document. Both items will be assessed to determine sift outcomes. Please note that only completed applications through the Be Applied route will be considered and that any further progress updates will be sent through Be Applied.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact charlie.pugsley@buildingsafety.gov.uk

Selection process and assessments

During sifting, both your CV and Statement of Suitability will be assessed against the role’s Essential Criteria.

These Essential Criteria will also be used to form the basis of the panel’s questions in your final interview. If a role lists Desirable Criteria, these will only be used to determine the merit order of candidates who rank evenly when assessed against the Essential Criteria.

Candidates that are shortlisted may be invited to attend a staff engagement panel.

At MHCLG we hold staff engagement panels as an integral part of the recruitment process for Senior Civil Servants (SCS) – they are designed to help us build up a rounded picture of each candidate and give us an insight into how you might engage and interact with your team should you be successful. The purpose of the session is to help us assess your engagement and communication skills and is not about testing your subject knowledge or expertise for this particular role. Feedback from the session is passed onto the selection panel for consideration alongside the final interview.

Candidates may also be invited to a meeting with a Minister or the Secretary of State, and/or other senior stakeholders. This is not a formal part of the selection process but an informal chance for candidates to find out more about the role and the organisation.

Shortlisted candidates will also be invited to give a short presentation or complete an exercise at the beginning of their final interview. Further details will be provided to shortlisted candidates when invited to interview.

Full details of the assessment process will be provided to shortlisted candidates at the earliest opportunity. All of the evidence presented as part of the process will be considered in the final assessment. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. The hiring manager for this role would be happy to have an informal discussion with candidates who would like further information before submitting an application. If interested, please contact scs.recruitment@communities.gov.uk

Interview

The selection process will conclude with a panel interview. This will usually take place virtually via Microsoft Teams. For certain roles, for example those linked to a specific location, the panel may choose to conduct in-person interviews, in which case candidates will be informed well in advance of interviews to allow travel arrangements to be made. Interviews will consist of questions centred around the role's Essential Criteria. For this reason we advise that you retain a copy of the advert or candidate pack when you apply for a role.

Contract

This is a permanent appointment. The successful candidate will be onboarded into MHCLG before transferring on the same terms and conditions to the Building Safety Regulator. This role is full-time and is suitable for a job share. MHCLG encourages flexible working.

Security

All MHCLG colleagues must meet the Baseline Personnel Security Standard. This is a series of basic security checks to confirm identity and employment history.
In addition to the BPSS, all SCS staff must be cleared to at least Security Check (SC) level, and this process can take up to 8 weeks to complete.

Salary

For external appointments, remuneration for this role will be circa £81,000 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 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.

Reserve List

In the event that we identify more appointable candidates than we currently have posts available, we will hold applicant details in a reserve list for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made. Candidates placed on a reserve list will be informed of this.

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.

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

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

Salary range

£81,000 per year