Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Location: Remote with flexible working arrangements, all UK based locations considered. Our flexible office collaboration spaces, for those wishing to use them, are in Birmingham, London and Exeter.

Term/Hours: Permanent. 32-40 hours per week, with flexibility over working pattern – please state in your application.

Salary: Competitive with Performance Related Bonus.

We are excited to announce an exceptional opportunity for a talented individual to join our team as the CEO of City Science Consulting. In this key leadership role, you will be the driving force in the future growth, thought leadership, customer satisfaction and overall success of our consultancy business. As the CEO of City Science Consulting, you will lead and inspire a team of over 35 engineering and environmental consultants with specialisms in Energy and Environment, Transport, Retrofit and Carbon Accounting, guiding them to deliver exceptional services that exceed client expectations.

Your strategic direction, operational expertise and growth mindset will be crucial in developing and implementing initiatives to expand our consultancy offerings, enhance our market presence and deliver high quality, profitable work.

About Us: City Science is an industry-leading sustainability, engineering, research and planning consultancy, committed to supporting regions and organisations to reach Net Zero. We partner with local authorities, developers, and organisations to deliver sustainable change.

Position Overview: We are seeking a visionary Chief Executive Officer to lead City Science Consulting through its next phase of growth. The ideal candidate will combine strong business acumen and demonstrable people management skills with a passion for sustainability and engineering, and a deep understanding of the intersection between technology, data science, and regional planning.

Role Responsibilities:

• Leadership: Provide strategic leadership by setting and delivering the company’s vision, growth ambitions and key targets. Oversee business operations and ensure operational excellence across all departments. Cultivate a positive company culture that fosters innovation, collaboration, and excellence. Ensure staff are bought into the mission and roles, objectives/targets, progress and personal development plans are clearly defined and communicated through the organisation. Mentor and support second-tier management to optimise the performance and skills development of staff across the consultancy business. Lead a talented interdisciplinary team, conducting work on high-profile client projects. Provide clear strategic leadership and support in areas such as project management, resource planning, contractual matters, business development, technical delivery and stakeholder management. Risk Management – take responsibility for identifying, assessing, and mitigating business risks.
• Thought-Leadership and Quality Assurance: Ensure City Science remains at the forefront of technical and policy developments within Net Zero, providing clear thought leadership and motivating and supporting the team to do the same. Manage and provide quality assurance, technical oversight, advisory and analysis as required as Project Director across a range of decarbonisation projects.
• Business Growth and Profitability: Take ownership and responsibility for the overall consultancy pipeline and P&L, being accountable to the board. Strategically plan consultancy business development and client positioning activities, leading the team to ensure a consistent and healthy pipeline of work. Drive business growth through a systematic approach providing clarity, accountability, transparent progress monitoring and remedial action. Lead delivery of specific business development activities, including direct client outreach and developing successful tenders and proposals. Build and maintain relationships with key clients, partners, and stakeholders, ensuring successful customer engagements. Represent the company externally as a key figure. Monitor industry trends, undertake competitor analysis, and strengthen market intelligence.
• Project Delivery: Take overall responsibility for successful project delivery across the portfolio, ensuring: Monitoring against milestones, budget, and quality. Clarity and forward planning around resourcing needs. Quality control across all projects. Highest levels of customer satisfaction. Initiate remedial action as required to keep projects on track to deliver high quality, profitable projects within timescales. Provide frameworks to drive profitability and enhance project delivery efficiency. Lead as Project Director on high-profile projects within your technical expertise.

What We Need: You will lead from the front, demonstrating strategic vision and delivery capability. You should provide clarity and consistency, supporting the team with systematic, logical decision-making processes. You must manage upward effectively, bringing the board along in decision-making. We seek an exemplary leader to guide this business, meeting the following requirements:

• A Master of Business Administration (MBA) or equivalent, demonstrating director-level knowledge of contracts, legal, compliance, budgeting, planning and profitability.
• Proven success in business development/sales, securing at least £2m revenue annually.
• Experience in P&L and pipeline management, with at least £5m revenue and profitable project delivery.
• Experience leading award-winning or high-profile consultancy projects.
• Growth mindset.
• Strong background in decarbonisation (e.g., Energy, Sustainable Transport, Net Zero Finance).
• Understanding of urban planning, smart city technologies, or related fields.
• Excellent leadership and team management skills with a structured, logical approach.
• Experience in monitoring and driving success, including staff development in high-performance environments.
• Financial management and planning experience.
• Ability to develop and maintain client relationships.
• Exceptional analytical, problem-solving, communication, and presentation skills.
• Experience reporting to a board of directors or equivalent.
• Degree in a technical or scientific field.
• Experience with software development teams is desirable.

Further Information: We value collaboration, proactive decision-making, pride in work, and ownership of responsibilities. Our team includes award-winning consultants, technologists, and academics.

Rewards & Benefits: Opportunity to oversee significant business growth. Performance-related bonus. Flexible and remote working arrangements. 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays. Buy/Sell annual leave policy. Membership of our pension scheme. Enhanced maternity and paternity policies. Eye care policy. Cycle to work scheme. Employee assistance program. Work on diverse projects with ongoing mentoring and training from board members.