Director of City Services

Coventry City Council is seeking an exceptional and experienced senior leader to provide strategic leadership for our city operations, highways and network management, environmental services and major capital delivery portfolio. Reporting directly to the Chief Executive and as a member of the Senior Leadership Team, the successful candidate will play a key role in ensuring Coventry remains a clean, safe, sustainable and well-run city, delivering high-quality, resident-focused services while driving innovation, transformation and financial sustainability.

The ideal candidate will have a strong track record of leading complex operational services and delivering measurable improvements in performance, quality, compliance and customer outcomes. They will bring significant experience of managing major infrastructure and capital programmes, overseeing large budgets and contracts, and working successfully within a political environment. An ability to build effective partnerships across public, private, voluntary and community sectors will be essential to delivering shared ambitions for the city and region.

Combining strategic vision with operational excellence, the successful candidate will be a visible, credible and resilient leader who can inspire high-performing teams, drive continuous improvement and make sound decisions in complex and challenging environments. They will possess strong commercial and contractual expertise, excellent communication and influencing skills, and the ability to build trusted relationships with elected Members, residents, partners, contractors and senior stakeholders.

Above all, we are looking for a collaborative and values-driven leader who is committed to equality, inclusion and public service, with the expertise to lead highways, Home to School SEND passenger transport operations, fleet, parking, waste, public realm and capital delivery services to achieve lasting benefits for Coventry's communities.

We are dedicated to making a positive difference to the services we deliver to the citizens of Coventry. The work we do improves people’s lives – from helping them into work to providing clean and green places to live, to keeping people safe and protected. 

Our aim is simple, to increase the economic prosperity of the city and region, improve outcomes and tackle inequalities within our communities and tackle the causes and consequences of climate change.

At Coventry City Council, we're building a workforce that reflects our diverse communities. Guided by our One Coventry Values, we celebrate inclusion, diversity of thought, and lived experience. As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews to applicants who meet the minimum criteria and are Armed Forces members or veterans, care leavers (where Coventry City Council was the corporate parent), or those with disabilities or long-term health conditions. We especially welcome applicants from minority ethnic/global majority, LGBT+, and neurodiverse backgrounds – your voice can help shape a fairer future for our residents. 

For more information, please see the attached candidate brief.

The closing date for applications is Monday 14th September 2026 

Technical interviews will be held w/c 21st September 2026 

Final panel interviews are on Monday 5th October 2026

For a conversation in confidence, please contact: 

Corinne Satterthwaite - Corinne.Satterthwaite@berwickpartners.co.uk

Click here to apply.

Coventry City Council