Suffolk County Council deputy chief executive could earn £149,000

A council’s new deputy chief executive could earn almost £149,000.

The recruitment of Suffolk County Council’s deputy chief executive and executive director of corporate services at a maximum pay of £148,950 was agreed today.

If the right “quality” of candidate for the role at Suffolk County Council is not attracted on the current £138,950 salary, it may be increased by £10,000.

Nicola Beach, the council’s chief executive, said: “The executive director of corporate services is a critical role involving leadership of a staff of 815 employees.

“If it is not fulfilled by the right person, this would pose a problem for capacity and capability.”

The recruitment and pay options were voted through unanimously and had cross-party support – with Green Party Cllr Andrew Stringer and Labour Party Cllr Sarah Adams in favour alongside the Conservative members of the committee.

Cllr Stringer said: “If this role hadn’t been filled during the pandemic, I don’t think the outcomes would have been as good.

“We don’t know when emergencies will happen, during which strategic leadership becomes even more important.”

The current £138,950 salary was deemed “not that competitive” by officers. They stated it is within the pay bracket for many similar posts, although they couldn’t find an identical combined role to benchmark against.

The chief executive and the leader of the council will have the option of making the £10,000 increase during recruitment.

The new role will be advertised from January and it is expected the new deputy executive will start work in June next year .

The employee will help implement the council’s priorities and agenda and be accountable for functions such as finance, HR and IT.

Suffolk County Council’s chief executive, Nicola Beach, has earned a salary of £184,458 from April 2021. The salary for the council’s directors ranges from £109,496 to £159,566.