Are you ready to take on a pivotal role that shapes the future of Islington’s built environment?
Islington Council is seeking an exceptional leader to fill the role of Assistant Director for Building Control on a permanent basis. As the Assistant Director for Building Control, you will be responsible for ensuring effective and timely decisions on all Building Regulation Applications and Notices submitted to the council. You will provide expert building control advice to colleagues across the council, ensuring all council developments meet Building Regulations. Additionally, you will advise on fire safety for buildings in the borough, including cladding remediation schemes.
We are looking for a candidate with:
- A strong track record of leading successful building control services, ideally in the public sector.
- Experience of working in complex urban areas and advising on large and complex buildings.
- Commitment to delivering a responsive and customer focussed service to all service users.
- Commitment to ensuring new buildings in Islington are fully accessible and achieve high levels of environmental sustainability.
Why join us?
This is a particularly challenging period for the building control profession, especially regarding fire safety. We want the council to be in the strongest possible position to respond to national changes. We are seeking someone who can demonstrate strong leadership skills and guide the service through this period of intense change. You must be committed to improving our building control systems and processes and supporting building control officers to deliver effective and responsive services to all our service users, including local residents.
Key attributes:
- Highest possible standards of integrity, resilience, and professionalism.
- Ability to lead and inspire a team through change.
- Dedication to making a difference to Islington’s built environment and our community.
Make an impact:
This role provides a real opportunity to make a significant impact on Islington’s built environment and to our residents and businesses. If you are passionate about building control and want to contribute to a thriving community, we would love to hear from you.
- Lead and manage the Building Control service, ensuring high performance, best practices, and continuity when deputising for senior directors. This involves setting clear goals and expectations for the team, regularly reviewing performance, and providing feedback and support. This role supervises up to 15 officers across two teams, with a key responsibility to expand the team to meet new duties and responsibilities under recent fire safety legislation.
- Act as the council’s lead officer for all matters relating to the delivery of building control services and lead advisor on fire safety for new and refurbished buildings, overseeing decisions on building regulation applications (including Full Plans, Building Notices, Regularisations and Reversion Notices) to ensure compliance with Building Regulations and associated legislation, including fire safety.
- Identify and address unauthorised works including enforcement action, manage dangerous structures to ensure public safety, and provide expert building control and fire safety advice to planning officers, particularly for major planning applications.
- Maintain responsive and effective communication with internal and external stakeholders including local residents, businesses, partners and community organisations, representing the Building Control service at council leadership meetings and on regional and national levels to support council priorities and influence broader policies.
- Ensure the Building Control service complies with statutory requirements, council policies, health and safety legislation, and maintains accurate Initial Notice and Competent Persons registers, implementing necessary changes to meet new legislative requirements. This includes staying updated on changes in legislation and ensuring the team is trained accordingly.
- Provide expert advice on complex building control and fire safety issues, and to develop, implement, and monitor an annual service improvement plan to ensure continuous improvement. This involves conducting regular audits and reviews of the service to identify areas for improvement.
- Manage the Building Control budget efficiently, ensuring cost-effective services aligned with council principles, identifying savings, and achieving financial sustainability. This includes preparing budget reports, monitoring expenditures, and finding ways to reduce costs without compromising service quality.
- Make decisions on judicial proceedings, act as an expert witness, and handle complaints about the Building Control Service to ensure timely and effective resolution. This involves preparing legal documents, presenting evidence in court, and resolving disputes.
- Ensure building control officers maintain the necessary standards of professional expertise and knowledge to perform their duties effectively through organising training sessions, workshops and continue professional development opportunities.
- Work closely with other departments to align building control activities with broader council goals by providing professional building control and fire safety advice to support the council’s capital investment programmes and collaborate with planning services to ensure integrated and efficient operations.
- Drive continuous enhancement of the Building Control Service by developing, implementing, and monitoring an annual service improvement plan. This includes identifying new technologies and methods to improve service delivery.
- Occasional requirement to attend council meetings outside of regular working hours. Additionally, must be available for site meetings, including after-hours, to inspect dangerous structures when necessary.
- Any additional duties consistent with the grade and level of responsibility of this position, for which the holder possesses the required experience and/or training.
For further information about the role, please contact Karen Sullivan (Director for Planning and Development) at karen.sullivan@islington.gov.uk.
Note to Recruitment Agencies
We kindly ask that recruitment agencies do not contact us regarding this vacancy. We are managing the recruitment process internally and will reach out directly should we require external support. Thank you for your understanding.
