Chair

The role & responsibilities of the Chair are as follows:

• To provide high quality leadership of the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership, building ambition, opportunity, cooperation and consensus, and setting the strategic direction for the economic growth of the WLEP geographic area.
• To build and manage national & local business and political relationships, providing an ambassadorial business role on behalf of the WLEP area and championing WLEP strategic priorities on behalf of the LEP partners in regional, national and international fora
• To communicate with a diverse stakeholder group, including private sector CEOs, Local Authority Leaders and CEOs, wider public bodies, local business & professional networks, Higher and Further Education organisations, local MPs, Government Ministers and Central Government Departments; ensuring that the views of major stakeholders are communicated to the Board, LEP Executive Team and LEP partners.
• To provide leadership and direction of the WLEP Board, ensuring that the Board is run in a transparent and equitable manner and all Board Directors are actively engaged in contributing to the work of the Board.
• To chair WLEP Board and other LEP meetings effectively, ensuring that there is full participation during meetings, that all relevant matters are discussed, and that effective decisions are made, minuted and actioned.
• To ensure clear strategies and business plans exist for WLEP which are publicly available.
• To provide leadership, support and advice to Board Directors & the WLEP Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and foster positive working relationships between partners.
• To ensure that WLEP complies with Government requirements including regularly reviewing and updating its Assurance Framework, WLEP policies and publishing delivery plans and reports as required.
• To hold the WLEP CEO to account for his/her performance and for the performance of the WLEP Executive Team.
• To ensure the induction of Board members and make sure that a full induction process is in place and establish a process for carrying out annual reviews of LEP Board Directors.
• To ensure that the Board delegates appropriately to its key Sub Groups.

Indicative timetable:

Closing date for applications: Wednesday 1 March, 9:00 a.m.
Shortlisting: 3 March 2023
Assessment Centre / Panel Interviews: 9 or 10 March 2023

For a confidential discussion about the role please contact our retained consultants at Faerfield:

Rachel Tucker
E: rtucker@faerfield.co.uk
T: 0121 312 3755

Dawn Faulkner
E: dfaulkner@faerfield.co.uk
T:  0121 312 3755

Applications must include:

To apply for this job please submit your CV (giving details where applicable of budgets and numbers of people managed, and relevant achievements/outcomes in recent posts), a Supporting Statement (no more than four sides of A4), a completed Candidate Application Form and a completed Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form to worcestershirelep@faerfield.co.uk quoting: ‘Vacancy: Chair, Reference: A000294’.

Your supporting statement should express why you are interested in this role and what experience you can bring to the organisation. The statement should tackle the specific requirements of the role; outlining examples and outcomes showing how you meet those requirements.

Please also provide the names and contact details of two referees, one of whom should be your current or most recent employer. If you do not wish us to approach your referees without your prior permission, then you should state this clearly.

Download candidate application form

Download equal opportunities form