Chief Executive Officer

Infected Blood Compensation Authority

Newcastle-upon-Tyne

  • Location Newcastle-upon-Tyne
  • Sector Central Government
  • Client Infected Blood Compensation Authority
  • Job Type Permanent
  • Salary/Remuneration £145,000 - £165,000
  • Reference GSe124667
  • Closing Date 23:55 on Monday 22nd September 2025

In recognition of the hurt caused by the infected blood scandal and highlighted by the Infected Blood Inquiry (IBI), the government has accepted the moral case for a compensation scheme to pay compensation to those infected and affected.

The Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) will ensure payment is made in recognition of the wrongs experienced by those who have been infected by HIV, Hepatitis B or C, as well as those who love and care for them. They have been frustrated and distressed by the delays in achieving proper recognition, and we must help put this right.

IBCA employees will be public servants. If successful in this role you will be appointed directly into IBCA, on IBCA terms and conditions as a public servant.

For more information please see the attached candidate pack

Job description

The Chief Executive leads the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA), an Arm’s-Length Body (ALB) established to assess and pay compensation and ongoing support payments to the victims of the infected blood scandal. 

This role entails providing inspirational leadership to a large, multi-disciplinary workforce, acting as the Accounting Officer for £11.8 billion of compensation spend, and ensuring the successful and timely delivery of the scheme with accountability to the public and Parliament.

The post-holder is responsible for the rapid development, effective operation, and eventual timely closure of the authority, navigating significant organisational tensions such as balancing speed of payment with resource stewardship, sensitive treatment of victims with fraud minimisation, and ensuring both quality of employees and optimal cost-effective closure.

Context and Current Issues

IBCA operates within a uniquely challenging and highly sensitive environment. Established in response to the Infected Blood Inquiry, the Authority is tasked with building and running a compensation scheme that is equitable, legal, value for money, and resistant to fraud, under immense public scrutiny. 

The role demands unprecedented speed in the full establishment of an ALB while simultaneously delivering compensation payments. This requires navigating continuous challenge and scrutiny from a highly engaged community and responding to Ministerial expectations for faster compensation payments.

Person specification

It is important in your CV and supporting statement, you provide evidence of the professional skills, breadth of experience and personal qualities for this post.

Essential Criteria:

  • Demonstrable experience in providing inspirational leadership to large, multi-disciplinary workforces, ideally within a high-profile and scrutinised environment.
  • Proven ability to rapidly establish a new organisation or significant program, including the ability to consider and implement a strategic target operating model, developing digital services and operational policy, and managing high-value, high-volume case management.
  • Extensive experience in financial stewardship and accountability for significant public funds.
  • Exceptional stakeholder engagement, influencing and negotiating skills, capable of building trust and relationships with diverse stakeholders, including politicians, media, and vulnerable communities, often from a position of historical distrust.
  • A strong track record of recruiting, retaining, and developing a skilled workforce, coupled with the ability to manage employee engagement in demanding and sensitive environments.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £145,000, Cabinet Office contributes £42,006 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

  • Learning and development tailored to your role
  • An environment with flexible working options
  • A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
  • Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

  • UK nationals
  • nationals of the Republic of Ireland
  • nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
  • nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
  • nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
  • individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
  • Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

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