The Fair Work Agency, Chief Executive Officer

Details
Reference number

436530

Salary

£100,000 - £162,500

A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

GBP

Job grade

SCS Pay Band 2

Contract type

Permanent

Business area

DBT - CMRR - Competition, Markets and Regulatory Reform Strategy

Type of role

International Trade

Senior leadership

Working pattern

Flexible working, Full-time, Job share

Number of jobs available

1

Contents

• Location
• About the job
• Benefits
• Things you need to know
• Apply and further information

Location

Birmingham, Cardiff, Darlington, Edinburgh, Nottingham, Salford

About the job
Job summary

Improving employment rights is a top priority for this Government. The Plan to Make Work Pay and The Employment Rights Bill currently going through Parliament is a once in a generation uplift in those rights, but there is no point increasing protections if they can't be enforced. This is why the Government is creating The Fair Work Agency (FWA).

The FWA is being established in April 2026 as a single, unified enforcement body for workers' rights in the UK. It will ensure that businesses who are trying to do the right thing are supported while clamping down on those who exploit their workers.

The Fair Work Agency is an Executive Agency of the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). As Chief Executive Officer, you will be responsible for providing strategic leadership and direction for the organisation and will work closely with DBT to deliver the policy objectives of Ministers.

This is a once in a generation opportunity to shape and lead a body that will be at the very heart of transforming the world of work for millions of people. As the Chief Executive of this new Agency, your role will be critical to shaping the FWA's early direction and ensuring it makes a real, positive difference to the lives of working people.

You will provide visionary leadership to promote fair employment practices, uphold workplace rights, ensure the Agency delivers its wide-ranging statutory functions effectively and lead the ongoing transformation of the organisation. With a starting budget of over £65m per year you will ensure the agency delivers value for money, focusing resources where they will have the most impact and constantly innovating to improve performance. You will be critical to working up plans for the Agency's further expansion, working with the Chair and Advisory Board who will help shape the FWA strategy going forward.

One of the really exciting things about this role is the breadth of responsibilities the FWA will have – it will have a sharp focus on protecting workers from serious labour abuse but also needs to work to support the vast majority of businesses who are trying to do the right thing to comply with the law. The CEO will be absolutely critical in ensuring that the FWA leadership has the full confidence of all of the many stakeholders who will need to be fully engaged if the agency is to meet Ministers' expectations.

Job description

Key Responsbilities:

• Strategic Leadership and Transformation: Working with the Chair and Advisory Board to set and deliver the long-term strategy for the FWA, ensuring alignment with government policy. You will drive the transition from multiple enforcement bodies to a single, unified agency, planning for phase two expansion of powers and responsibilities as set out in the Employment Rights Bill.
• Statutory Powers and Enforcement: You will ensure that the powers of the body are used appropriately. This includes supporting businesses to become compliant in the first instance, while also deploying robust, intelligence-led enforcement where this is necessary. You will also play a critical role in the development and then deployment of new powers.
• Financial Stewardship: Manage a substantial budget, ensuring value for public money, compliance with government financial and accountability frameworks, and delivery of high standards of integrity and transparency. As the FWA grows the CEO will need to play a critical role in developing ways of assessing the value for money of different interventions, particularly critical given the range of activities (from upstream compliance work through to traditional enforcement) the agency will be responsible for.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Build and maintain strong, balanced relationships with stakeholders, including government, employers, workers, trade unions, and independent experts across the whole range of the agency's responsibilities. You will ensure effective engagement through the Advisory Board and act as the public face of the agency in national forums.
• Culture and People: Champion a new, collaborative and innovative culture, uniting diverse public and civil service backgrounds who have traditionally taken different approaches to securing compliance and enforcement. You will inspire and lead a growing workforce, embedding continuous improvement and a drive for innovation across the agency.
• Governance and Accountability: Serve as principal advisor to the Advisory Board, supporting robust governance and ensuring compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements. You will be personally accountable for safeguarding public funds and for the agency's operational effectiveness.
• Operational Excellence and Risk Management: Oversee all aspects of operational management, including financial controls, HR, and service delivery. You will identify and manage risks to the agency's operations, reputation, and statutory compliance, ensuring the FWA is effective from day one and ready for future growth.

Person specification

• An experienced senior leader with evidence of successfully managing significant organisational change in a complex organisation, including creating and embedding a new culture.
• Proven track record of delivering significant innovation, demonstrating a creative and strategic approach to solving complex challenges across organisational boundaries and empowering others to embed a culture that promotes innovation and creativity.
• Good knowledge of the sector or a proven ability to quickly adapt to a new sector or environment, grasping complex issues, systems and stakeholder landscapes at speed.
• Experience of working with a diverse set of stakeholders across organisational boundaries, including an understanding of navigating the complexities of collaboration across government and private sector organisations.
• The ability to communicate effectively, inspiring confidence and credibility with a wide range of senior stakeholders, managing competing demands, adapting your communication style to suit different perspectives and priorities.
• Financial and commercial acumen, with experience of managing large budgets and delivering value for money and improved efficiency.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £100,000, Department for Business and Trade contributes £28,970 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know
Selection process details

How to apply

Hays, an Executive Search firm, have been appointed to assist with this recruitment campaign. To apply for this post, you will need to submit documentation below via the following link, by no later than 23:55pm on Sunday 30th November 2025.

Follow this link to apply

If you have any issues accessing the link or questions regarding the documentation, please contact:

• Andrew Timlin: ,
• Owen Quant:

Documentation:

1. A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years.

2. A Supporting Statement of around two pages of A4 explaining how you meet the requirements of the person specification as far as you are able to and please also take this opportunity to explain your motivations for applying.

Failure to submit both documents will mean the panel only have limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the person specification. Please ensure that both documents contain your full name.

Please see the Candidate Information pack link at the bottom of the page for further information on the vacancy and the recruitment process.

DBT now host Senior Civil Service (SCS) Candidate Support sessions for those wanting to learn more about the application and recruitment processes for SCS roles within DBT, if you are interested please register for a session here -

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check .

See our vetting charter .

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles .

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy .

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants
Job contact :

• Name : Hays Executive Recruitment Team
• Email :
• Telephone :

Recruitment team

• Email :

Further information

Our recruitment process is underpinned by the principle of appointment on the basis of fair and open competition and appointment on merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners' Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact DBT by email at If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission, which regulates all Civil Service recruitment. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: Civil Service Commission Complaints

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