Deputy Director - Regulation and Compliance

Job Introduction

Deputy Director - Regulation and Compliance

Salary – £102,410 - £112,893 (Grade 13)

Hours: 37 hours per week

Contract: Permanent, Full Time

Political Restrictions: This is a politically restricted post as per Local Government Officer (Political Restrictions) Regulations 1990.

Help Shape Safer, Stronger Communities

The City of Wolverhampton Council is seeking an exceptional and dynamic leader to join our senior leadership team as Deputy Director - Regulation and Compliance.

This is an exciting opportunity to join one of local government’s most ambitious councils in a strategic leadership role with responsibility for a diverse portfolio of public protection, regulatory and enforcement services that play a critical role in safeguarding residents, supporting businesses and creating safe, thriving communities across the city.

Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer (Monitoring Officer), you will be responsible for driving innovation, service transformation, shaping partnerships and continuous improvement while ensuring the Council meets its statutory responsibilities to have a direct impact on the safety, wellbeing and prosperity of residents across the city.

To learn more about Wolverhampton, our ambitions for the city and why this is such an exciting opportunity, watch a short message from Tim Johnson, Chief Executive:

A message from Tim Johnson, Chief Executive

About the Role

As Deputy Director - Regulation and Compliance, you will lead and shape a broad portfolio of services, including:

• Environmental Health
• Trading Standards
• Licensing, including taxi and private hire licensing
• Community Safety
• Environmental Crime
• Regulatory Enforcement
• Public Protection
• Voluntary and Community Sector Services
• Domestic Abuse and Migration Services

You will work closely with elected members, senior leaders, the Police, health partners, regional agencies, voluntary and community sector organisations and local communities to deliver innovative and intelligence-led approaches to public protection, community safety and regulatory compliance.

A key aspect of the role will be leading strategic programmes and partnerships that tackle issues such as anti-social behaviour, environmental crime, serious and organised crime, exploitation, youth violence, and violence against women and girls, while promoting prevention, early intervention and strong regulatory standards.

About You

We are looking for an accomplished senior leader with significant experience operating within a complex and politically sensitive environment.

You will bring:

• Extensive senior leadership experience within regulation, compliance, public protection or a related field
• Experience of leading large-scale organisational change and service transformation
• Strong understanding of local government, regulatory frameworks and statutory responsibilities
• A track record of delivering measurable service improvement and high performance
• Experience of working collaboratively across organisational boundaries and developing effective partnerships
• Expertise in providing strategic advice to senior leaders and elected members
• Excellent communication, influencing and stakeholder management skills
• A commitment to equality, inclusion and delivering positive outcomes for residents and communities

You will be a visible and credible leader, capable of driving innovation, managing complexity and delivering sustainable improvements across a broad service portfolio.

Why Wolverhampton?

This is an opportunity to make a meaningful impact on the lives of residents, businesses and communities across Wolverhampton.

You will join an ambitious and forward-thinking organisation committed to continuous improvement, innovation and delivering excellent public services, while helping shape the future of one of the UK's most dynamic cities.

Don’t take our word for it – the Council’s recent LGA Peer Review found a 'striking sense of an organisation where staff feel genuinely engaged and valued, and motivated to do the best for their city', with one of the stakeholders describing Wolverhamptonas 'the benchmark for the kind of authority to aspire towards' - alongside that the Council has year on year had positive external audit assessments and has CQC and Ofsted Good ratings.

The Peer Review also recognised Wolverhampton as ‘a blueprint for how good partnership working should be done’, reflecting the Council's strong track record of collaboration and leadership across the city, the Black Country and the wider West Midlands. This commitment to partnership working underpins the Council's approach to community safety, public protection and delivering positive outcomes for residents.

If you are an inspirational leader ready to drive change and deliver outstanding outcomes, we would love to hear from you.

Interview Process

The selection process will consist of a Technical Panel interview, including a presentation, and a Stakeholder Panel interview, including an assessment. Both stages will take place on 6 November 2026.

Further information:

Should you wish to discuss this opportunity further, please contact David Pattison, Chief Operating Officer at David.Pattison@wolverhampton.gov.uk.

For full details of the responsibilities and requirements of this role please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification.

Our working arrangements

All council roles are allocated to either a fixed, field or flexible work style. Some roles are agile which enable and empower employees to maximise their performance and productivity, whilst maintaining a healthy work life balance. Roles with a fixed workstyle work in a fixed permanent council location. Roles with a field workstyle are usually allocated where employees are required to be out working in the community with a minimum requirement for 'touch down' space at any council location. Roles with a flexible workstyle have a flexible base location to meet the needs of the business and employees can work from a mixture of home or any council office, partner/client, or external location, as required to meet service requirements.

Please refer to the Job Description for further information on the workstyle assigned to the role you are applying for.

For more information about working for our organisation including the culture of the Council, the Council plan and vision, staff equality forums, core HR policies, employee benefits and much more please click here.

Diversity

We are committed to building a workforce that is reflective of the diverse community we serve. We want to attract the best applications from people of all backgrounds and underrepresented groups because we strongly believe in adding value through diversity, inclusion, and equality. Our employees enable us to deliver services that are accessible, inclusive, and reflective of Wolverhampton residents.

Our status as a Disability Confident Employer showcases our commitment to people with disabilities or health conditions, advocating for their opportunities and potential.

We've received the Stonewall Gold Award, emphasising our dedication to the LGBT+ community by nurturing an inspiring, inclusive, and equal workplace.

As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Gold Award Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as your application meets the essential criteria for the post.

We encourage, inspire and value an inclusive culture here at the council where employees can flourish, thrive and be themselves. We have four staff equality forums for employees to join. These help to ensure our employees have a voice, they feel empowered to speak up and where everyone is treated with respect - Learn more about the staff equality forums here

Recruitment of Ex-Offenders

We are committed to the fair treatment of all our employees, potential employees, or users of our service regardless of offending background. The Council uses the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) for any vacancies that require a DBS check to obtain information about applicants to assess their suitability for employment in positions of trust. We do not discriminate unfairly against any individual on the basis of a conviction or any other information revealed as a result of a DBS disclosure - Learn more here

Employment Information & Support

If you are considering applying for an apprenticeship or a role where the salary is (Grade 2-5), and would like to visit us to learn about the application, interview process and what it is like to work for the council, please click on this link to find out more - Learn more here