Corporate Director - City Operations in Brighton

Corporate Director – City Operations

Want to help shape a better Brighton & Hove for all? Brighton & Hove is a bold, diverse and iconic coastal city. It\’s a place our residents, workforce, businesses and visitors care deeply about. With rich cultural assets and a vibrant community spirit, we also face complex social challenges and stark inequalities that demand courageous leadership and fresh thinking. Our leadership team is united in tackling challenges head‑on, backed by an ambitious transformation programme and a commitment to digital innovation even through a tough financial landscape.

We’re looking for a strategic, forward‑thinking leader to join our corporate leadership team and report directly to the chief executive.

About The Role

As part of the Corporate Leadership Team, you will work with elected members, senior officers, and partners to bring our shared vision for the city to life through the priorities in our Council Plan.

You Will Be Instrumental In

• setting the vision, tone and culture of the organisation
• advising at the most senior level
• ensuring resources, income and new revenue streams are aligned to priorities
• ensuring we demonstrate our values and behaviours in all we do

We expect that you will already have considerable senior leadership experience within a place‑based role.

Key Dates

• Closing date – 5pm on the 18th January 2026
• Technical interviews – week commencing 26th January 2026
• Final interviews – week commencing 2nd February 2026

Please note that dates are being finalised and may change. Prospective candidates will be kept updated through the recruitment process.

Additional Information

Additional information: This role is politically restricted. For further information on what this means for employees in post, please click on the document attachment below.

Your starting salary will be pro rata if the above position is less than 37 hours or term‑time only.

Relocation support may be available if qualifying criteria are met.

We are a workplace that supports flexibility and employee wellbeing in the way we work whilst providing the best service for our customers. Team and service working arrangements are designed to support both employee work‑life balance and team collaboration. These would be part of your individual working arrangements alongside any personal preference agreed with your manager in advance of joining. Your contractual location will be the designated council office for your team and travel to and from your contractual location would be at your own expense.

Apply

As part of your application, you will need to upload your Application Form and answers to some shortlisting questions. Your answers to the shortlisting questions are the most important part of your application as it will be used in the shortlisting process to assess whether you meet the essential requirements for the role that are set out in the person specification and to decide whether you should be offered an interview. Before you start your application, please read our guidance here (Application Form guidance (brighton-hove.gov.uk) and (Shortlisting guidance (brighton-hove.gov.uk) as this gives important advice which will increase your chance of success in the shortlisting process.

If you are applying for a role under an employer‑specific commitment (for example Disability Confident, Armed Forces Covenant), please clearly state this in your covering letter.

Diversity

Encouraging a diverse workforce, our city is known and loved for its diversity. We are committed to developing and retaining a workforce that is representative of the diverse communities we serve. We welcome applications from individuals from all backgrounds. In order to achieve our aims of proportionate representation, we particularly encourage applicants from a BME or White Other background as well as those who identify as disabled, male or trans.