Head of Highways and Sustainable Transport Policy

Southwark Council; London; On-site; GBP 83,000 - 106,000; Full time

Job summary

Southwark Council seeks a Head of Highways to lead strategic transport initiatives and public realm projects. This senior role involves overseeing significant budgets and contracts while working collaboratively with various stakeholders to enhance local infrastructure and promote sustainable mobility. Ideal candidates will have a background in urban planning or related fields, with demonstrated leadership in public sector environments.

Benefits

Additional benefits to the value of £3,503

Qualifications

• Strong background in highways, transport planning, or urban infrastructure.
• Proven experience in strategic planning and budget oversight.
• Exceptional people leadership skills to develop high-performing teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead transformation of highways and public realm in Southwark.
• Oversee multi-million-pound highways contracts and capital programmes.
• Ensure infrastructure supports climate action and inclusive access.

Skills

Strategic Planning

Negotiation

Performance Management

Stakeholder Engagement

Team Leadership

Job description

Southwark is a vibrant, diverse, and growing borough at the heart of London. As a council, we’re ambitious, progressive, and committed to improving the lives of our residents. At the core of our mission is Southwark 2030, a bold vision for the future, which has is guided by feedback from our residents and communities. This includes creating a greener borough, improving air quality, tackling the climate emergency, and making streets safer more inclusive and accessible for all.

The Environment, Sustainability and Leisure department play a crucial role in delivering our vision. Our ‘Streets for People’ strategy is already transforming how people move around Southwark, prioritising walking, cycling, clean transport and public spaces.

What You'll Be Doing

About the role

As the Head of Highways, you will lead one of Southwark’s most high-impact and high-profile service areas. Reporting to the Service Director, you’ll take responsibility for the strategic transformation of our highways and public realm, ensuring our infrastructure supports climate action, health equity, and inclusive access.

You’ll oversee a significant in-house service, a multi-million-pound highways contract, and a range of capital programmes focused on sustainable mobility, low-carbon transport, and public realm innovation. Whether it’s delivering Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, embedding digital tools, or driving behaviour change, you’ll have the autonomy and responsibility to impact the future of Southwark’s streets.

This is a senior leadership role at the heart of our organisation. You’ll work closely with elected Members, Chief Officers, external partners, and national agencies, bringing strategic thinking, financial acumen, and people leadership. This role is key to ensuring a co-production approach while embedding social value into how we work, with a focus on putting resident needs at the forefront of our highways and transport decisions.

This post attracts an additional benefit to the value of £3,503 PA for staff which can be used for benefits or taken as cash.

What We're Looking For

About you

We’re looking for a strategic and experienced leader who combines technical credibility with emotional intelligence, political awareness, and a commitment to public service.
To be considered for the role you will be able to evidence:

• A strong background in highways, transport planning, or urban infrastructure, with a track record of leading complex projects, contracts and teams in a political or public sector environment.
• Proven experience in strategic planning, performance management, budget oversight, and delivering transformational programmes that support climate action and active travel.
• Deep understanding of the legislative, environmental and operational context of local government highways work, including contract management, stakeholder engagement, and inclusive design.
• Exceptional people leadership skills, with the ability to inspire, empower and develop high-performing multi-disciplinary team.
• Strong negotiation and influencing skills, with the ability to build consensus across internal teams, residents, partners, and political stakeholders.

This is a great opportunity to lead a service that directly impacts how people experience their everyday environment, making a lasting impact in one of London’s most ambitious boroughs.

Additional Information

Application Closing Date: 11.59pm on Sunday 29 June 2025

Interview Date: Thursday 10 July 2025

We are an organisation who is passionate about our people and understands that richness of diversity is a requirement to provide the best possible services to our communities.

This is demonstrated through our council-wide ambitious commitment to tackle racial inequality in our communities and workforce through our Southwark Stands Together initiative.

We particularly welcome applications from members of the black, Asian and ethnic minority communities to increase representation at senior management level in the Council.

As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role, and identify with one of the below criteria:

• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• Are currently in care, or have previously been in care
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role, in which case we will move the key dates for the process. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

Salary Range (Full time equivalent) £83,964 - £105,096