This is a new, pivotal and exciting role for an inspiring leader, to shape York’s future prosperity.

We are ambitious in York; a progressive, inclusive and sustainable place, giving the highest priority to the wellbeing of its residents, whilst protecting the fabric and culture of this world famous historic city with UNESCO status.

York has a strong economy, with high employment, wages above average, productivity among the highest in the North, a great education system, the most skilled workforce in the North and a reputation as a great place to live.

For the past 20 years, York has had a consistent focus on growing well paid employment on the back of university driven sector growth. We have seen the Science City York initiative expand science jobs in the city, the focus on Media Arts bring business opportunities across sectors, and widespread growth in our knowledge-based industries. These have transformed York’s economy, adding 20,000 highly skilled jobs to the city.

York is already the most productive and well-paid city in Yorkshire, with an excellent education system, green transport routes and a firm commitment to becoming net-zero by 2030. And yet we are at, or below, average in terms of Government funding when compared to the whole of the UK. This shows the case for Levelling Up in York: the North needs York to be in the top 25% of UK economies and that means increasing productivity and pay while continuing to grow new skills in our workforce. These are the headline ambitions of our strategy – we want York to be a place where productive businesses are good employers and where our residents thrive.

To achieve this ambition, we want to build on our existing strengths. We see York as the centre of globally significant clusters in rail and bio-technology, leading the way in demonstrating the benefits of the green economy, and a beacon for flexible, productive jobs that enable our people to make the most of their abilities and live well. Through growing the productivity of our tourism, retail and social care businesses, we believe they can be even better providers of employment for York’s people. We were the first Good Business Charter city, and we encourage all York’s businesses to be part of the initiative.

We seek to grow, to exploit opportunities wherever they exist and to work closely with key stakeholders within the city. We are already seeing results with recent successes including the redevelopment of the historic Guildhall a redevelopment for the 21^st century creating modern business space with public access, conference and event space whilst retaining its civic use; the best of tradition and the modern.

Also the York Community Stadium and Leisure Centre is a unique public/privately funded complex that delivers not only a new 8,500 all-seater Stadium for York City FC and York City Knights RLFC stadium, but a new leisure complex and Community Hub. Developed as a ‘Healthy Stadia’ which uses the power of sport to tackle health inequalities by using the stadium as a tool to promote the health of visitors, fans, players, employees and the surrounding community. The Stadium becomes a place where people can go to have a positive, healthy experience, playing or watching sport.

You will deliver The York Central scheme; one of the UK’s largest and most exciting city centre regeneration schemes. Perfectly located next to the city’s railway station and the National Railway Museum, it is a project of world-class ambition which is set to transform 45 hectares of brownfield land into a brand-new quarter for the city. Its ambition includes building 2,500 new homes (20% affordable), an extensive commercial and retail space creating 6,500 new jobs, with £135m infrastructure investment, a world class Museum, a new contemporary hotel, two new Civic squares and 17 acres of beautiful park land.  The York Central scheme will produce a vibrant and distinctive mix of residential neighbourhoods, cultural spaces, public realm, and a high-quality commercial core; creating a place like no other in the heart of one of the UK’s most historic and desirable cities.

You will be welcomed by a management team that works collectively around a One Council, One City approach, where your contribution and the support of others reflect the one team approach supportive of each other; a real sense of #TeamYork. We are looking for a leader who shares these core values - who is just as ambitious for the people and businesses of York as they are for themselves; has a passion for driving improvements; can form collaborative partnerships with many different stakeholders; knows how to work efficiently within a defined budget; and all the while can inspire and encourage their own team to flourish and prosper. The ability to work constructively with the city’s key partners within the public, private and voluntary sector is essential.

Our approach is very much based on working in partnership with organisations, groups and individuals, something for which York has always been renowned, and supporting our businesses to be as inclusive as they can be.

Our residents, businesses and communities work hard for this city, inspiring each other to be the most welcoming, the most friendly, the best.

You will work with the new Mayor and the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority and wider partners to secure inward investment to further develop our great city.

As our new Director of City Development you will lead on the strategic infrastructure development of the city, major projects, regeneration, strategic planning, local plan, and projects associated with the combined authority.  Providing leadership in relation to the Council’s key relationships with partners and developers

Your specific areas of responsibility include the following:

Economic development and regeneration Major projects Local Plan Tourism Inward investment Combined Authority projects and liaison  

Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, and as key member of the Council’s corporate leadership team you will drive our ambition for the future, providing an inspired career opportunity. You will further build the reputation of the City regionally, nationally and internationally, securing inward investment and ensuring York is well placed to take every opportunity. You will find that the role will provide you with the kind of professional challenge and complexity you will naturally aspire to as an ambitious economic development professional- our size means that we are large enough to provide the rich mix of complexities facing local government, but at the same time we are small enough to enable you to get things done. So, this high profile role will provide you with the opportunity to make a significant difference as well as a platform to enhance your career.

You will join a beacon employer that offers a supportive work environment that promotes professional development, hybrid working, and a strong work-life balance.

If you are interested in joining our corporate leadership team and are inspired to help lead the next phase of our journey, we look forward to your application.

Further information regarding the role, including job description and details of how to apply are available here: https://www.yorkappointments.co.uk/dcd

We recommend that you have an initial conversation with our recruitment partners at The Resourcing Solution to find out more.

Close Date 29 September 2024

To apply please click the Apply Now link below.