Head of Economy and Growth

Description

Surrey County Council is making its most significant ever investment in supporting Surrey’s economy. As the largest economy outside of London, Surrey’s new Economy Team is supporting the Council in its ambitions to focus on the whole Surrey economy and to provide a resilient and ambitious economic environment.

This work has already started with the development of Surrey’s 2030 Economic Strategy which establishes an ambitious strategic context for growth, sets out the opportunity to both retain and secure additional investment in the county and focuses on how we will create inclusive, vibrant centres within the county through a ‘hyper-local’ approach to innovative place making. The One Surrey Growth Board is also bringing forward its Plan for Growth, which also includes a consideration  of where Surrey’s economic strengths can be enhanced through sustainable, long-term planning of transport and digital infrastructure as well as the creation of high-quality homes and communities of the future.

In this newly created role, you will work across our wide portfolio of activities, including economic programmes; inward investment; place leadership and employment & skills. You will work closely, and strategically, with our partners to drive innovation and economic growth in the areas of Surrey that are in most need. You will work with our partners to create deliverable strategies that address some of our most complex challenges and develop strategic business cases for capital and inward investment programmes within the County.

Through targeted economic interventions linked to the delivery of high-quality place-based growth, you will enable Surrey to retain its role as an economic leader and continue to underpin the economic recovery of the UK. This role will be accountable for developing high level labour market interventions to key sectors of the future Surrey economy as well as addressing issues related to skills and inclusion

About you

You will have experience of leading and delivering complex economic programmes and while you are not expected to have experience across all elements of economic interventions at scale, you should be able to evidence an insightful understanding of the cross-cutting nature of economic activity in a local government setting.  

To succeed in this role, you must be able to demonstrate experience of developing high profile strategic relationships in an economic context. You will build upon our existing well-established partnerships as a strong collaborator and confident system leader, ensuring there is collective focus on our ambitious and high-profile portfolio of work for Surrey. You will be politically astute and be able to present yourself positively with confidence and conviction to inspire both respect and trust amongst colleagues, businesses, partners, and peers.

There is a cross-cutting horizontal nature to the team, so we are looking for people with an understanding of national policies, statutory requirements, relevant frameworks, and accountabilities in relation to economic development – including inward investment, innovation policy and delivery, place-leadership, labour market trends as well as familiarity with external funding streams to support such activity and changes being made to Government policy around this.

There has never been a more exciting time to join Surrey. Sustained, strong partnership working is at the heart of the programme of work and our Growth Board intends to work with all stakeholders to build from the Plan for Growth considering opportunities for Surrey to bring forward a County Deal proposition to Government.

For more information about the role, or for a confidential discussion about your suitability, please contact Frazer Thouard (07384 810 743) or Rachel Salvia (0207 426 3374) or visit www.join-surrey.co.uk.

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