Wirral Council is a place where you can genuinely make a difference, guided by strong organisational values that shape everything we do. Our values - ambitious, professional, resident‑focused and accountable, act as our organisational DNA, influencing how we work, lead and support one another every day. We take pride in delivering great services, acting with integrity, building positive relationships, and always putting residents first, creating a supportive and inclusive culture where everyone can “be the best we can be”. With our beautiful surroundings, ambitious future plans, and a commitment to empowering staff to #BeTheDifference, Wirral Council offers an inspiring environment to grow your career and make a lasting impact.
Head of Policy, Partnerships & Scrutiny
Senior Leadership Role | Permanent
Shape the future of governance, policy and partnerships in Wirral.
Wirral Council is entering a defining period of transformation. As we transition from a Committee System to a Leader and Cabinet model, we are seeking an exceptional leader to join us as Head of Policy, Partnerships & Scrutiny — a pivotal role at the heart of how the Council operates, makes decisions, and delivers for our communities.
This is a rare opportunity to influence from the ground up — shaping governance, strengthening partnerships, and ensuring robust democratic accountability at a critical moment of change.
About the Role
Reporting to the Assistant Director for Governance & Corporate Support, you will lead a high-performing team spanning corporate policy, strategic partnerships, and overview & scrutiny.
You will:
- Drive a revitalised policy function, ensuring the Council Plan is translated into clear, deliverable priorities and measurable outcomes
- Lead and embed a strong performance and assurance framework, overseeing monitoring of the Council Plan and ensuring high-quality reporting into Cabinet and Scrutiny Committees
- Champion effective overview and scrutiny, strengthening its impact, independence, and influence within the new governance model
- Invigorate partnerships across the public, private and voluntary sectors — ensuring collaborative leadership to tackle Wirral’s key challenges
- Support the transition to Cabinet governance, designing and embedding new processes, roles, and ways of working
- Provide strategic advice to Members and senior officers, ensuring policy, governance and scrutiny are aligned and effective
About the Candidate:
We are looking for a confident and politically astute leader who thrives in complex environments and can lead through change.
You will bring:
- Significant senior leadership experience in policy, governance, scrutiny or corporate services within local government or a comparable setting
- A strong track record of developing impactful policy and performance frameworks
- Deep understanding of local authority governance, including scrutiny and decision-making processes
- Experience of working closely with elected members and senior stakeholders, providing clear, trusted advice
- Proven ability to lead organisational change, particularly within governance or operating model transformation
- A passion for partnership working, with the ability to build influence beyond organisational boundaries
Interviews to be held: 24th July 2026
Please note - this role is politically restricted
Should you have any questions about the role, please contact [email protected]
We welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates. For this vacancy, candidates must have an existing right to work in the UK before commencing employment. Skilled Worker visa sponsorship is not available for this post. Eligibility to work in the UK will be verified in the final stages of the selection process.
This is not legal advice, and we advise you to seek your own independent legal advice tailored to your own personal circumstances
If you are a Wirral resident, are unemployed or out of work, and require help with your application, please contact Involve Northwest’s employment and skills team on [email protected] or contact 0151 644 4500 or 0151 652 4349.
If you’re already a Wirral Council employee, as part of our Talent Strategy, we’re committed to strengthening opportunities for our people to learn, grow, progress and thrive. For many of you, this may be preparing and applying for your next role with us, and we're passionate about ensuring you feel supported throughout your internal recruitment experience. Please get in touch if you want to know more about some of the ways in which we could support you by emailing [email protected]
Working at Wirral
You’ll also want to know what it’s like to work here so, as a start:
Our values are more than just pieces of paper on our walls! We’ve all played a role in developing these, so they reflect the immense pride we have in what we do, what matters to us, what inspires us and inform how we think, approach things and behave.
We believe in ensuring staff are well looked after, staff wellbeing is a priority for us. We’re serious about recognising and rewarding people for the great things they do. You’ll benefit from our track record of developing, growing and investing in our people.
We have a range of staff benefits including staff discounts, enrolment into the local government pension scheme (an excellent defined benefit scheme), immediate life cover and ill-health protection. We have a strong flexible working approach, hybrid working, family-friendly employment initiatives and an annual leave package starting with 28 days leave plus public holidays.
We have an inclusive, engaged culture, everyone has a voice, everyone is valued for their contribution and understands the role they play in delivering our strategic priorities.
Each voice is heard, each contribution valued. We embrace diversity in our workforce and recognise it is critical to our success. We support an inclusive culture that champions differences and nurtures a sense of belonging. We encourage people from diverse backgrounds, who share our values and our commitment to inclusion to apply for roles with us.
We want you to be your best at work, we create the conditions to help you thrive and we mirror this in our recruitment process. If you’d like us to do anything differently during the recruitment process to make it barrier-free and as accessible as possible please contact [email protected]
Please note that in accordance with the Council’s policy, employees who are in a formal redeployment situation will be considered in the first instance for all vacancies.
It is Council policy not to re-appoint any employee who has left under the terms of the Council's Early Voluntary Retirement (EVR) scheme or who have left with a voluntary severance (VS) package, unless in exceptional circumstances.
Applications will be accepted until midnight on the closing date.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy earlier than the specified date should we receive sufficient applications.
Applications can only be accepted through the Jobs page following registration. Forms received via the post will not be processed.
All applicants invited to interview must evidence their right to work in the UK.
The job description and other supporting documents will not be accessible once the vacancy closing date has passed so if a copy is required you should download it now.
We do not accept applications or CV’s from recruitment agencies, unless otherwise stated. Therefore, any candidates submitted via a recruitment agency will not be considered for this role.
