Chief Officer Place

Aspen People; Dalkeith; On-site; GBP 117,000 - 143,000; Full time

Job summary

Midlothian Council is seeking a Chief Officer Place to lead Place services from Dalkeith and to deliver innovative strategies that grow the local economy while promoting inclusive, sustainable development for our communities.

The role requires extensive transformation leadership, strategic governance, and strong partnership working across the Council and external partners, with oversight of budgets, risk, and service improvement to meet community needs.

Qualifications

• Substantial experience leading transformation initiatives.
• Experience at strategic/corporate level within a large public service or major financial sector organisation.
• Experience in one or more functional areas delivered by a public body with understanding of regulation and governance.

Responsibilities

• Oversee budgets, governance, risk and compliance.
• Develop policies, service plans and delivery models that meet community needs.
• Lead transformation initiatives across Place services including Building, Housing, Neighbourhood, Planning, Property & Facilities, and Protective Services.
• Liaise with external partners and promote partnerships across sectors.
• Support organisational change and performance improvement.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic planning

Partnership working

Budget management

Staff leadership

Regulation and governance

Stakeholder engagement

Public sector experience

Job description

Chief Officer Place

Midlothian Council

Dalkeith

£129,606

Midlothian Council - Aspen People

This role is responsible for supporting the Executive Director of Place by leading, developing, and managing Place services, with a focus on delivering innovative strategies that grow the local economy and promote inclusive, sustainable development. It involves driving organisational and cultural change, improving service performance, and ensuring effective collaboration across the Council, partners, and external stakeholders.

The position also includes overseeing budgets, governance, risk, and compliance, as well as developing policies, service plans, and delivery models that meet community needs.

Place Services encompasses:

• Building Services which includes the Building Standards Service and Building Maintenance Service. The purpose of the Building Standards system is to protect the public interest and Building Standards provides co-ordinated and integrated regulatory advice for developers, architects, surveyors, engineers and the general public on progressing buildings and development projects.
• Housing Services is responsible for a number of key strategies that lead to the development of housing stock and tackle homelessness.
• Neighbourhood Services is Place’s ‘Hub and Spoke’ service. This service adopts a locality model of delivery, bringing together a number of key Place teams – Roads (operational, assets and policy), Travel & Fleet, Waste, and Land & Countryside to improve the quality of urban and rural spaces for Midlothian’s citizens.
• Planning, Sustainable Growth & Investment comprises the statutory town and country planning functions of the Council and also is responsible for increasing capacity of the local area to improve economic outcomes and uplift the area’s quality of life capitalising on the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal.
• Property & Facilities Management provides a wide range of professional property and valuation advice, energy management, asset rationalisation, data management and development of G.I.S. systems and also professional and technical management across a number of sites.
• Protective Services brings together Place’s regulatory functions of Environmental Health, Trading Standards, Corporate Health and Safety, Contingency Planning and Risk.

Candidates must have substantial experience of leading transformation initiatives and delivering citizen-centred services, together with demonstrable experience of working effectively at a strategic and corporate level within a large public service or major financial sector organisation. This should include experience in one or more functional areas delivered by a public body, with a clear understanding of regulation and governance.

The role requires extensive management experience, including service delivery and improvement, strategic planning, partnership working, project and budget management, and staff leadership. Candidates should also have experience of liaising with external partners and promoting partnerships, alongside an understanding of the importance of diversity and equalities in service delivery and employment.

Closing Date: November 6th, 2026