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Announcements (Archive)

BBC Board Non-Executive Member for Wales

Body
BBC Board
Appointing Department
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
Sector
Culture, Media & Sport
Location
London
Number of Vacancies
1
Remuneration
The base fee for all non-executive members is £33,000 p.a. See attachment for further details.
Time Requirements
The core time commitment for non-executive members, including Nations members will be on average 1-2 days per week. See attachment for further details.

Campaign Timeline

  1. Competition Launched

    13/04/2017

  2. Closed for Applications

    12/06/2017 at 08:00

  3. Panel Sift

    15/06/2017

  4. Final Interview Date

    28/06/2017

  5. Announcement

    20/07/2017 at 12:00

Announcement

An announcement has been made on the outcome of this appointment.

Elan Closs Stephens has been appointed as the BBC Board member for Wales

Date: 20/07/2017

View Announcement

Assessment Panel

Panel Member
Sue Owen
Panel Role
Panel Chair
Positions
DCMS Permanent Secretary - Panel Chair Departmental Official
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Political Activity-
Notes-
Panel Member
Sir David Clementi
Positions
BBC Chair Representative of Organisation
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Political Activity-
Notes-
Panel Member
Sir Peter Spencer
Positions
Independent Member
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Political Activity-
Notes-
Panel Member
Paul Kindred
Positions
Welsh Government Representative Departmental Official
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Political Activity-
Notes-

Vacancy Description

THE BOARD

Collectively, Board members will be responsible for ensuring the BBC effectively, efficiently and independently exercises its functions as set out in the BBC’s Royal Charter and Framework Agreement.

Key responsibilities

Within the governance framework set out in the BBC’s Royal Charter and Framework Agreement, the duties and functions of the Board will be to:

  • uphold and protect the independence of the BBC;
  • ensure that the BBC fulfils its mission and promotes its public purposes;
  • act in the public interest, ensuring that the benefits of decisions relating to the fulfilment of the mission and promotion of its purposes outweighs the costs;
  • set the BBC’s strategic direction and budget;
  • set a performance assessment framework and monitor delivery against it;
  • set the BBC’s editorial and creative direction, and standards;
  • ensure the proper handling of complaints about the BBC;
  • ensure the effective and efficient management of the BBC and its commercial subsidiaries;
  • exercise rigorous stewardship of public money, securing the effective and efficient management of the BBC’s finances;
  • ensure that the BBC complies with its legal obligations including those set by the Royal Charter;
  • consider proposals for material changes to the BBC’s UK Public Services, non-service activities, trading activities and commercial services;
  • observe high standards of openness and seek to maximise transparency and accountability;
  • appoint, and hold to account, the management of the BBC; and
  • monitor the BBC’s engagement with, and reporting of performance to, its stakeholders, in particular to licence fee payers, and ensure it is assessing and meeting the needs of the diverse communities of the UK.

All non-executive members have particular responsibility for:

  • bringing an external perspective to bear on the business of the BBC and contributing to the development of effective strategy and organisational change;
  • ensuring that the Board’s decision-making is in the public interest informed by the best interests of the audience and with appropriate regard to the impact of decisions on the wider media market in the UK;
  • providing an independent, objective viewpoint on the Board to test and constructively challenge management; and

● playing a key role in ensuring that the BBC maintains the highest standards of corporate governance, particularly with respect to financial reporting, internal control and risk management.

Person Specification

NON-EXECUTIVE MEMBERS

We are looking for outstanding individuals with demonstrable leadership skills and a passion for public service broadcasting, to represent the public interest in the BBC and maintain the Corporation’s independence.

Essential skills and experience

All candidates must be able to demonstrate a commitment to the independence, mission and public purposes of the BBC, as well as demonstrating they meet a majority of the following criteria to a high degree:

  • experience working at the highest level of public or commercial life in the UK and/or internationally, with experience of sitting on commercial and/or public sector boards;
  • an understanding of the creative industries, the key challenges and opportunities facing public service broadcasting in the UK, and of the commercial  media sectors and the impact on audiences;
  • a proven ability to think through complex issues strategically, independently and imaginatively;
  • experience exercising excellent financial stewardship and securing value for money;
  • excellent communication and relationship management skills, and the ability to represent the BBC capably to a wide range of stakeholder groups, including audiences, parliamentarians and the media.

Non-Executive Members for the Nations – additional essential criteria

In addition to the essential skills and experience listed above, applicants for the Nations members must be able to demonstrate the following attributes:

  • A strong knowledge of the culture, characteristics and affairs of the people and communities in the nation which you propose to represent, including a good understanding of the important role of language in that nation;
  • A knowledge of the challenges and opportunities facing public service broadcasting, the broader media sector and the creative industries as a whole in the nation that they propose to represent: and
  • An understanding of views of audiences and public opinion in that nation.

It would also be preferable for candidates to have a business or residential base in the nation.

Skills:

In applying to be a non-executive board member, candidates must be able to demonstrate one or more of them:

  • expertise in learning and education, helping people to explore and engage in new subjects
  • experience in commercial and/or operational management, with a particular focus on strategy development, audit or risk;
  • experience in a leadership and/or oversight role within an organisation of significant scale and complexity;
  • management of marketing, audience engagement or customer relationships at a senior, preferably board, level;
  • a leadership role in public policy development and implementation, including in relation to regulatory environments and/or economics;
  • experience in a global organisation working across multiple countries and markets, in the media or related disciplines;
  • experience in the technology, digital media or telecoms sectors;
  • demonstrable leadership in the creative, arts and/or cultural arenas;
  • senior experience in commissioning or production of media content – either in television, radio, news or online;
  • editorial responsibility at a senior level, including running editorial operations and/or maintaining standards.

Additional Information

Please see the attached candidate brief for full information on this post.

THE APPOINTMENT PROCESS

The new Board of the BBC, as of April 2017, will consist of both non-executive and executive members. The total number of members on the Board will be 14, consisting of:

  • Ten non-executive members, including: the Chair; National members for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; and five other members.
  • Four executive members, including the BBC Director-General (CEO).

The board member for Wales is appointed  through an open and transparent public appointments process, managed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and resulting in appointment to the post by the Queen-in-Council.

A summary of the appointments processes is set out below.

Process for DCMS appointments

These appointments are made by The Queen-in-Council on the recommendation of DCMS ministers through the Prime Minister. The appointments process will run under the Cabinet Office Governance Code on Public Appointments and will be regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

For appointment to the position of Wales member on the Board, agreement between the Ministers of the UK Government and the Welsh Government will be required.

Further information about UK Government public appointments can be found here: www.publicappointments.cabinetoffice.gov.uk

How to Apply

To apply, please send:

–  A copy of your CV.

–  A supporting statement, of no more than three sides, that evidences how you meet all the criteria in the Person Specification. Please provide examples of where your knowledge and experience matches the required criteria. It is important that you provide as much detail as possible, within a limit of three sides.

–  You should also complete the separate disclosure forms providing details of any political activity, conflicts of interest, and details of any public appointments held currently.

Please ensure you include preferred daytime, evening and mobile telephone numbers, as well as a preferred e-mail address, which will be used with discretion.

To apply online (preferred) please visit: www.odgers.com/62139

Alternatively, applications should be emailed to 62139@odgersberndtson.com