Impact Director - Sector Support

Local Government Association

Home based or Office based

  • Location Home based or Office based
  • Sector Local Government
  • Client Local Government Association
  • Job Type Permanent
  • Salary/Remuneration up to £139,000
  • Reference GSe136588
  • Closing Date 11.59 Sunday 18 October 2026

Lead the National Improvement Offer for Local Government

There has rarely been a more important moment for local government.

As councils respond to the challenges and opportunities presented by devolution, public service reform and financial sustainability, the Local Government Association is shaping the future of the sector nationally. Representing councils across England and Wales, the LGA's influence reaches into the heart of government, policy-making and public service delivery.

We’re now seeking an exceptional Impact Director – Sector Support to lead the LGA’s national improvement support offer at a pivotal moment for local government. This is a newly configured, nationally significant leadership role: senior head of profession for improvement support, and a key architect of how councils access practical, credible and sector-led help to improve, transform and deliver better outcomes.

As a member of the Strategic Leadership Team, you will lead multidisciplinary teams spanning care and health, children’s services, improvement support, peer challenge, learning and development. Your task will be to build a sharper, more connected improvement offer: using insight from councils and members to design practical products, deploy targeted support, strengthen capability, drive continuous modern improvement and feed learning back into policy, advocacy and future sector support.

Historically, policy and improvement activity have often operated as distinct disciplines. This role is about helping to change that. Working closely with the Impact Director – Sector Voice, you will help create a stronger cycle of evidence, influence and delivery: listening deeply to what councils are experiencing, shaping practical and proactive improvement support, and ensuring the LGA’s national policy work is informed by real-time sector intelligence.

This is both an external and internal leadership role. Externally, you will be visible with councils, elected members, chief executives, professional bodies, government departments and national partners. Internally, you will bring teams together, build confidence across professional boundaries, strengthen performance and help create a more collaborative, outcome-focused culture across functions that are being brought closer together.

We’re seeking a strategic, politically astute and delivery-focused leader who can lead transformation in a complex organisation, command credibility across local government, and turn insight into practical support that councils value and use.

You will bring:

  • Deep understanding of local government, sector-led improvement and the support councils need to strengthen performance and outcomes.
  • Experience of leading multidisciplinary teams, significant programmes and complex change across professional boundaries.
  • A track record of turning sector insight into practical improvement products, interventions, peer support, learning and development.
  • Strong political awareness and the ability to build trusted relationships with councils, members, senior officers and national partners.
  • The ability to lead culture change, improve performance and bring together teams that have historically worked in different ways.
  • A commitment to evidence-led improvement, innovation, measurable impact and continuous learning from the sector.

You may have built your career in local government, the wider public sector, a national improvement body, a membership organisation or another complex public service environment. Above all, you will combine strategic leadership with the ability to make improvement practical, credible and useful for councils facing real-time pressures.

This is a rare opportunity to shape a new national role, reset ways of working, and develop a stronger, more connected offer for councils and combined authorities across the country — informed by the sector, developed with the sector, and focused on the outcomes members need.

Join us and help ensure local government has the insight, support and confidence it needs to improve, innovate and deliver for communities.

For a confidential discussion, please contact our search partner GatenbySanderson: Elizabeth Pick - elizabeth.pick@gatenbysanderson.com

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