Building Safety Regulator, Deputy Director, Technical Policy and Professional Standards

This post will be in the Building Safety Regulator, not MHCLG. BSR is a non-executive departmental body of MHCLG, BSR staff are not civil servants, but retain access to civil service pensions and civil service jobs. It is equivalent in pay scale to a civil service Pay band 1 post, as indicated on this advert.

We are seeking an exceptional senior leader to lead the Building Safety Regulators Technical Policy and Professional Standards function, a role at the heart of governments building safety agenda. This is an influential leadership position at the interface of professional expertise, regulatory delivery, and political decision-making.

The function sits at the centre of some of the most high-profile policy agendas in government. Building safety remediation, housebuilding, net zero, and built environment performance all depend on credible, well-governed technical standards and a competent building control profession. The postholder will be the BSRs authoritative voice on these issues, working closely with MHCLG, across government and external technical experts to bring professional and technical insight to political decision-making.

The BSR was established following the Grenfell Tower tragedy to deliver the Governments building safety reforms. Having recently gained independence as a non-departmental public body of MHCLG, it is now building the institutional foundations and leadership capability to fulfil its long-term role, including as the platform for a future single construction regulator.

This is also a period of significant organisational change for the BSR, and the postholder will need to be genuinely comfortable operating in an evolving environment, adapting plans and priorities as the organisation develops.

The Technical Policy and Professional Standards portfolio spans the Approved Documents underpinning the Building Regulations, sector competence and certification, oversight of the building control profession, and responsibility for Competent Person Schemes, including leading reform of that landscape to ensure it remains fit for the challenges of a changing built environment. It is a diverse, multidisciplinary function, bringing together technical specialists, policy professionals, and regulatory practitioners. Leading it effectively requires clarity of direction, the ability to build trust across very different professional communities, and the confidence to operate in a high-profile and politically sensitive environment.

You will report to the Director of Strategy, Risk, Regulatory Policy and Change and be a member of the BSRs Senior Leadership Team. You will work closely with MHCLG on policy development and Whitehall handling, and with professional bodies, standards organisations, and industry groups to maintain confidence in the regulatory system.

This is a high-impact leadership role for a confident, politically astute senior leader who can inspire diverse teams, command credibility with technical and non-technical audiences alike, and exercise sound professional judgement in a complex and scrutinised environment.

• Provide strategic leadership across the Technical Policy and Professional Standards portfolio, setting clear direction for a large, diverse multidisciplinary function and ensuring coherent delivery across technical standards, professional oversight, and regulatory assurance.
• Act as the BSRs principal adviser on technical and professional standards to BSR senior leaders, MHCLG, Ministers, and other government departments translating complex technical and professional issues into clear, timely, and actionable advice in support of political decision-making.
• Lead the BSRs engagement on governments high-profile built environment agendas including building safety remediation, housebuilding, net zero, and performance ensuring technical policy positions are coherent, evidence-based, and communicated effectively across Whitehall and to Ministers.
• Oversee the development and maintenance of Approved Documents and related publications, ensuring the BSRs technical standards are legally sound, practically effective, and command confidence across the sector, working with and through teams of deep technical specialists.
• Set and maintain professional standards for the building control profession, overseeing the BSRs approach to competence, conduct, and accountability across registered building inspectors, local authority building control bodies, and registered building control approvers.
• Lead the BSRs oversight and reform of Competent Person Schemes, driving forward improvements to the framework to ensure it remains effective, proportionate, and fit for the demands of a modern built environment regulatory system.
• Build and sustain influential relationships with professional bodies, industry groups, standards organisations, and regulators, maintaining the BSRs credibility and the sectors confidence in the regulatory framework.
• Ensure the functions work is grounded in robust evidence and forward-looking analysis, drawing on research, learning from incidents, innovation, and horizon scanning to keep technical and professional standards ahead of emerging risks.
• Develop and lead a high-performing, inclusive Technical Policy and Professional Standards function, building capability across a range of professional disciplines and fostering a culture of rigour, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Contribute to the BSRs longer-term regulatory reform agenda, including as a senior leader in the development of the future single construction regulator.

Essential Criteria

• Outstanding senior leadership capability, with a track record of leading large, diverse or multidisciplinary teams and driving high performance across complex functions including teams of specialists in fields where you may not yourself hold deep technical expertise.
• Proven ability to operate at the interface of technical, policy, and political environments providing authoritative advice to Ministers and senior officials, and translating complex professional or technical matters into clear, credible positions.
• Significant experience of working across government, shaping high-profile policy agendas and managing sensitive Whitehall relationships, with a strong understanding of departmental and ministerial priorities.
• Experience of building and sustaining influential external relationships with professional bodies, industry groups, regulators, or standards organisations and of maintaining institutional credibility in a scrutinised environment.
• Strong understanding of governance, assurance, and professional standards frameworks, and how these drive safer outcomes and public confidence in a regulatory system.
• Demonstrated ability to lead through ambiguity and complexity, balancing competing demands and maintaining strategic focus in a fast-moving and politically sensitive environment.
• Exceptional communication and influencing skills, with the ability to engage and inspire a wide range of audiences from specialist professionals to senior politicians and to build coalitions across organisational and professional boundaries.