Director - South London Partnership

South London is a place of real ambition and remarkable scale.

Five boroughs, Croydon, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Richmond upon Thames and Sutton, home to more than 1.2 million people and an economy generating over £38 billion in GVA.

Individually, each borough is distinctive.

Together, through the South London Partnership, they are a force: a cross‑party collaboration with a growing track record of securing investment, shaping policy and delivering real outcomes for residents and businesses.

This is your opportunity to lead it.

The South London Partnership is, by design, "of the boroughs, for the boroughs." It exists to do the things that make strategic sense to do together: driving inclusive and sustainable growth, coordinating health and care collaboration across the sub‑region, supporting residents into jobs and skills, improving connectivity, and building the digital and transport infrastructure South London needs.

Its BIG Ambition, South London Growth, sets out a shared roadmap to 2035, aligned with the London Growth Plan and making a compelling case for government support and devolution.

A new SLP Transport Strategy is about to be published.

What’s needed now is the leader to drive it forward.

As Director, you will work directly with the Leaders and Chief Executives of all five boroughs, shaping the Partnership’s priorities in the wake of the recent local elections and turning collective ambition into delivery.

You’ll lead a talented core team overseeing a £25m portfolio of funded programmes spanning economic growth, employment and skills, health, digital inclusion, transport, and climate.

And you’ll be South London’s voice beyond its boundaries with government departments, the Mayor of London and the GLA, London Councils, the Integrated Care System, universities, colleges and business, ensuring the sub‑region’s challenges and opportunities are understood, and that its case for investment lands.

This is a genuinely unique role in London local government.

It demands a self‑starter: someone comfortable with ambiguity, energised by an environment where no two days are the same, and able to move fluidly between strategy and delivery, politics and partnership.

You’ll bring excellent political acumen and judgement, a deep understanding of London and national government, and a proven record of leading large‑scale programmes involving multiple stakeholders with differing priorities.

Above all, you’ll know how to build and nurture relationships and how to lead a partnership that serves all of its members equally.

In return, you’ll inherit a partnership with momentum, political and officer‑level support, and a strong track record of delivery and influence.

You’ll have the freedom to identify new areas of collaboration and shape the strategic direction of the sub‑region for years to come.

Hosted by Richmond Council, you’ll work flexibly and visibly across all five boroughs, with the backing of five Chief Executives who are invested, as equal stakeholders, in your success.

If you believe in what local government can achieve when it works together, and you have the leadership, credibility and drive to make it happen, we want to hear from you.

The South London Partnership boroughs are committed to diversity and inclusion in leadership, and we actively welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds.

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