Appointment details

NATS - NED (PD)

Summary

• Organisation: National Air Traffic Services Partnership
• Sponsor department: Department for Transport
• Location: Various
• Sectors: Transport
• Skills: Business, Communication, Human Resources
• Number of vacancies: 1
• Time commitment: 2 day(s) per month
• Remuneration: £51310 per annum
• Length of term: 3
• Application deadline: 11:59pm on 9 February 2025

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Timeline for this appointment

1. Opening date

   13 January 2025

2. Application deadline

   11:59pm on 9 February 2025

3. Sifting date

   28 February 2025

4. Interviews expected to end on

   28 March 2025

Timeline dates are only an estimate and can change

About the appointment

Introduction

About NATS Holdings Limited

Overview

NATS is a world leader in the provision of air navigation services, minimising air traffic delays for our customers while maintaining safety as our top priority and with a clear focus on efficiency. The NATS Group of companies comprises NATS Holdings Ltd and three main subsidiaries – NATS (En Route) plc, NATS (Services) Ltd and NATS Ltd.

NATS provides economically regulated Air Traffic Control (ATC) services to aircraft flying in airspace over the UK and the eastern part of the North Atlantic, and commercial services at 14 UK airports. It also provides other ATC and related services to airport, airline and government customers in the UK and overseas.

NATS purpose

• Advancing aviation, keeping the skies safe.

NATS’ 2040 strategic objectives

• We are relied on by every airspace user;
• We are carbon negative;
• We deliver an additional £500m pa revenue; and
• We are a top 25 company to work for.

NATS’ values

• We are respectful;
• We are one team;
• We are courageous;

NATS handled nearly 2.4 million flights in 2023 which was up 11% from 2022 and broadly back to pre-Covid 2019 levels.

In 2023/24 NATS declared a pre-tax profit of £372m which included deferred regulatory revenues relating to the Covid period. The NR23[1] settlement for NERL, which we received during the year, has provided a solid baseline for our business particularly given that NERL is able to recover the costs incurred in providing an ATC service through the Covid period. As allowed for by NERL’s regulatory regime, these costs will be recovered over a 10 year period.

A copy of the latest annual report as well as all recent press and financial statements can be found at the NATS website (www.nats.co.uk).

[1] NR23 is the price control period that NATS is currently in terms of the Civil Aviation Authority’s regulation of NERL for enroute services and licence. It covers the period 2023-27 and essentially sets the prices which NERL can charge airlines to use UK airspace. 

Introduction from the Minister

Dear Applicant,

Thank you for your interest in the NED role on the Board of NATS Holdings Limited (“NATS”).

This is an important time for the Department for Transport. We are investing heavily in infrastructure and public transport to improve journeys, boost connections, level up the country and support economic growth. Central to our mission is delivering transport that works for everyone in our society.

We are recruiting for a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee to join the Board of NATS.

NATS Holdings, formerly known as National Air Traffic Services, is the UK's leading provider of air traffic control services, handling 2.2 million flights and 250 million passengers in UK airspace each year. In addition to providing services to 15 UK airports, and managing all upper airspace in the UK, NATS provides services around the world spanning Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North America.

The Government owns 49% of the group and we are looking for a Non-Executive Director (known as Partnership Directors) to join the Board. Specifically, we seek a candidate with a HR background or otherwise an individual with a significant employee engagement track record, ideally having served with/or on a renumeration committee. This document contains information about the role and requirements.

This position will contribute significantly to employee relations discussions and executive remuneration. You will lead the Employee Share Trust, representing a 5% staff shareholding in NATS, and take a key role as Chair of the Remuneration Committee. This role is central to maintaining a positive working relationship with trade unions and fostering a supportive workplace.

We strongly welcome applications from all backgrounds. As part of the Department’s commitment to diversity, we believe our public appointments should reflect our customers - the travelling public – who come from all walks of life and have different experiences. We very much welcome fresh talent, expertise, and perspectives, to help us better understand the needs of the communities we serve and support better decision making for all. This includes people who may have never applied for a public appointment – but could bring new ideas, insights and energy.

If you are interested in the role and work of NATS, I would like to encourage you to apply.

Our dedicated DfT Public Appointments Team would be happy to talk through the process and answer your questions.

Mike Kane MP

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Aviation, Maritime and Security)

Appointment description

Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee

NATS is seeking a Non-Executive Board Member to join its Board. The successful candidates, through their membership of the Board, will provide challenge and support to a wide variety of management and operational issues and contribute to the effective strategic and operational leadership of NATS.

As a Non-Executive Board member your key responsibilities will be to:

• To provide insight and constructive challenge and feedback and to serve as an active member of the NATS Board.
• As Chair of the Remuneration Committee:
• Review general remuneration policy (and make recommendations to the Board as necessary) in order to promote long term sustainable success, aligned to company purpose and values, and clearly linked to the successful delivery of the company’s long-term strategy.
• To determine the terms of service, including remuneration, for the Chair, Chief Executive Officer, Executive Directors, and Executive Team.
• To agree the annual objectives of the Executive and review year end appraisals.
• Chair of the Employee Share Trust.

Board composition

NATS Holdings Board

The Board of NATS Holdings Ltd is the company’s primary decision-making forum and is responsible for guiding NATS through its major strategic and operational challenges.  The Board thus needs to be of the highest quality, incorporating the experience, capabilities, business knowledge and energy necessary to continue NATS’ successful development. It currently consists of:

Non-Executive Chair: Warren East

Chief Executive: Martin Rolfe

Finance Director: Alistair Borthwick

Non-Executive Directors:

Airline Group appointed

• Mike Campbell
• Gavin Merchant
• Harry Bush
• Bart Prudon
• Louise Street

LHR Airport Ltd appointed

• Ross Baker

Government appointed 

• Greg Bagwell
• David Smith
• Maria Antoniou

The Board normally meets bi-monthly on the last Thursday of the month, with an additional meeting in June each year to approve the Annual Reports and Accounts of Group companies.

Person specification

Essential criteria

• Experience of working with a senior leadership team to offer support and challenge holding them to account for effective delivery. 
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and communication with the ability to build and maintain complex partnerships, working collaboratively to deliver strategic objectives.   
• Have a good understanding of large and complex organisations operating in a regulated or analogous environment.
• Be an experienced People and Talent leader or have substantial relevant background with key skills in driving HR strategy, culture change and employee engagement. Experience of having worked in a unionised environment would be helpful, as would experience of having served with/on a remuneration committee.

Completed applications should be submitted to nats@heidrick.com

Application and selection process

How to apply

Create an account or sign in.

In order to apply you will need to send an application to Heidrick & Struggles by midnight the 9 February.

Completed applications should be submitted to nats@heidrick.com

Any applications submitted after the closing date, or that are missing any of the following documents, will not be accepted.

·      A CV or equivalent biographical information (maximum two sides A4, minimum 12 font) setting out your career history and including details of any professional qualifications. 

·      Provide a summary of why you are interested in the role and how you meet the specification and essential criteria. This can be in a form that allows you most ably to present your interest and credentials, for example a short, bullet-point slide presentation, a short video (no more than 2 mins) or supporting letter (no more than two A4 pages, minimum 12 font). Make sure you refer to the contents of this document and provide specific examples. If you wish to provide your supporting summary in video 10 format, please contact DfTpublicappointments@dft.gov.uk in advance of the closing date.

·      You will also be asked to provide diversity data, and to declare any potential conflicts of interest or reputational issues.

If you have any queries about this role, please contact Sonia Jakubiak at Heidrick & Struggles on +44 (0)20 7075 4257 or email nats@heidrick.com.

Completed applications should be submitted to nats@heidrick.com

The Advisory Assessment Panel reserves the right to only consider applications that contain all of the elements listed above, and that arrive before the published deadline for applications.

Overview of the application process

Public appointments are made on merit following a fair and open competition process which is conducted in accordance with the Governance Code for Public Appointments. We will deal with your application as quickly as possible and will keep you informed at key stages. We aim to conclude the appointment process within three months of the deadline for applications – this is in accordance with the Governance Code.

The assessment process

1. Ministers are responsible and accountable to Parliament for the public appointments made within their department. As a result, they must be consulted at every stage of the appointments process.

2. An Advisory Assessment Panel (“Panel”) is appointed by Ministers to assist them in their decision making. The role of the Panel is to decide, objectively, which candidates meet the eligibility criteria for the role.

3. At the shortlisting meeting the Panel will assess applications against the eligibility criteria and decide which candidates have best met the criteria, who should be recommended for interview. Ministers will then be consulted on the Panel’s recommended shortlist. If you have applied under the Disability Confident Scheme and you meet all the essential criteria, then you will also be invited for an interview.

4. Once the shortlist has been agreed by Ministers, you will be advised (by e-mail) whether you have been shortlisted. Those shortlisted will be invited to an interview.

5. The Panel will meet again to interview candidates and determine who is appointable to the role. The Panel may invite you to make a brief presentation at the start of the interview and will go on to question you about your skills and experience, including asking specific questions to assess whether you meet the criteria set out for the post. The Panel will also explore with you any potential conflicts of interest or any other issues arising from your personal and professional history which may impact on an appointment decision.

6. Details of the panel’s assessment of interviewed candidates are provided to Ministers, including whether they have judged a candidate to be appointable to the role. It is then for Ministers to determine merit and decide who should be appointed. In some circumstances, Ministers may choose not to appoint any candidates and re-run the competition.

7. Ministers may choose to meet with candidates before deciding the outcome. Candidates should therefore be prepared for a short time gap between interview and a final appointment decision being made. Candidates who have been interviewed will be kept informed of progress.

8. Once the decision on the appointment has been made, interviewed candidates will be advised of the outcome of their application, including whom they may approach for feedback. Successful candidates will be issued with their Terms & Conditions and a letter of appointment should they agree to take up the position.

Further information about appointments, including tips on applying, can be found on our guidance pages on gov.uk.

Advisory Assessment Panel (AAP)

• Warren East, Chair of the Board, NATS
• Mary Halle, Director - Shareholdings, Appointments and Inquiry Response, Department for Transport
• Anne MacColl, Independent Panel Member

Advisory Assessment Panels (AAP) are chosen by ministers to assist them in their decision-making. These include a departmental official and an independent member. For competitions recruiting non-executive members of a board (apart from the Chair), the panel will usually include a representative from the public body concerned.

AAP’s perform a number of functions, including agreeing an assessment strategy with ministers, undertaking sifting, carrying out interviews in line with the advertised criteria and deciding objectively who meets the published selection criteria for the role before recommending to ministers which candidates they find appointable. It is then for the minister to decide who to appoint to the role.

Eligibility criteria

In general, you should have the right to work in the UK to be eligible to apply for a public appointment.

There are a small number of specialist roles that are not open to non-British citizens. Any nationality requirements will be specified in the vacancy details.

The Government expects all holders of public office to work to the highest personal and professional standards. 

You cannot be considered for a public appointment if:

• you are disqualified from acting as a company director  (under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986);

• have an unspent conviction on your criminal record;

• your estate has been sequestrated in Scotland or you enter into a debt arrangement programme under Part 1 of the Debt Arrangement and Attachment (Scotland) Act 2002 (asp 17) as the debtor or have, under Scots law, granted a trust deed for creditors.

When you apply, you should declare if:

• you are, or have been, bankrupt or you have made an arrangement with a creditor at any point, including the dates of this. 

• you are subject to a current police investigation.

You must inform the sponsor department if, during the application process, your circumstances change in respect of any of the above points. 

When you apply you should also declare any relevant interests, highlighting any that you think may call into question your ability to properly discharge the responsibilities of the role you are applying for. You should also declare any other matters which may mean you may not be able to meet the requirements of the Code of Conduct of Board Members (see Outside interests and reputational issues section below)

If you need further advice, please contact nats@heidrick.com.

Security clearance

The successful candidate will be required to undertake Baseline Personnel Security Standard checks in line with the Civil Service guidelines. Additional Security Clearance may also be required for certain roles. However, where this applies, candidates will be notified during the appointment process. Further information on National Security Vetting can be found on the Gov.uk website here.

Additional information for candidates

Equality and diversity

We encourage applications from talented individuals from all backgrounds and across the whole of the United Kingdom. Boards of public bodies are most effective when they reflect the diversity of views of the society they serve.

We collect data about applicants’ characteristics and backgrounds, including information about people’s educational and professional backgrounds, so that we can make sure we are attracting a broad range of people to these roles and that our selection processes are fair for everyone. Without this information, it makes it difficult to see if our outreach is working, if the application process is having an unfair impact on certain groups and whether changes are making a positive difference.

When you submit your application, your responses are collected by the Cabinet Office and the government department(s) managing your application. The data is used to produce management information about the diversity of applicants. You can select “prefer not to say” to any question you do not wish to answer. The information you provide will not be seen by the Advisory Assessment Panel who review applications against the advertised criteria and conduct interviews.

Disability confident

We are a member of the Government’s Disability Confident scheme. We use the Disability Confident scheme symbol, along with other like-minded employers, to show our commitment to good practice in employing people with a disability. The scheme helps recruit and retain disabled people. As part of implementing the scheme, we guarantee an interview for anyone with a disability whose application meets the essential criteria for the role, set out in the advert, and who has asked that their application is considered under the scheme. Indicating that you wish your application to be considered under the scheme will in no way prejudice your application. By ‘essential criteria', we mean that you must provide evidence which demonstrates that you meet the level of competence required under each of the essential criteria, as set out in the job-advert. When you apply you will have the opportunity to select if you would like your application considered under this scheme.

Reasonable adjustments

We are committed to making reasonable adjustments to make sure applicants with disabilities, physical or mental health conditions, or other needs are not substantially disadvantaged when applying for public appointments. This can include changing the recruitment process to enable people who wish to apply to do so.

Some examples of common changes are:

• ensuring that application forms are available in different or accessible formats;
• making adaptations to interview locations;
• allowing candidates to present their skills and experience in a different way;
• giving additional detailed information on the selection / interview process in advance to allow candidates time to prepare themselves;
• allowing support workers, for example sign language interpreters;
• making provision for support animals to attend.

When you apply you will have the opportunity to request reasonable adjustments to the application process.

Principles of public life

The Seven Principles of Public Life (also known as the Nolan Principles) apply to anyone who works as a public office-holder.

1. Selflessness

Holders of public office should act solely in terms of the public interest.

2. Integrity

Holders of public office must avoid placing themselves under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence them in their work. They should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends. They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.

3. Objectivity

Holders of public office must act and take decisions impartially, fairly and on merit, using the best evidence and without discrimination or bias.

4. Accountability

Holders of public office are accountable to the public for their decisions and actions and must submit themselves to the scrutiny necessary to ensure this.

5. Openness

Holders of public office should act and take decisions in an open and transparent manner. Information should not be withheld from the public unless there are clear and lawful reasons for so doing.

6. Honesty

Holders of public office should be truthful.

7. Leadership

Holders of public office should exhibit these principles in their own behaviour and treat others with respect. They should actively promote and robustly support the principles and challenge poor behaviour wherever it occurs.

Code of conduct for board members

The Government expects all holders of public office to work to the highest personal and professional standards. In support of this, all non-executive board members of UK public bodies must abide by the principles set out in the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies. The Code sets out the standards expected from those who serve on the boards of UK public bodies and will form part of your terms and conditions of appointment.

Management of outside interests and consideration of reputational issues

Holders of public office are expected to adhere and uphold the Seven Principles of Public Life and the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies. Before you apply you should consider carefully: 

• any outside interests that you may have, such as shares you may hold in a company providing services to government; 
• any possible reputational issues arising from your past actions or public statements that you have made; 
• and/or - any political roles you hold or political campaigns you have supported; 

which may call into question your ability to do the role you are applying for.

You will need to answer relevant questions in relation to these points when making an application. Many conflicts of interest can be satisfactorily resolved and declaring a potential conflict does not prevent you from being interviewed. If you are shortlisted for an interview, the panel will discuss any potential conflicts with you during that interview, including any proposals you may have to mitigate them and record that in their advice to ministers. Alongside your own declaration, we will conduct appropriate checks, as part of which we will consider anything in the public domain related to your conduct or professional capacity. This may include searches of previous public statements and social media, blogs or any other publicly available information. The successful candidate(s) may be required to give up any conflicting interests and their other business and financial interests may be published in line with organisational policies. 

Details of declared political activity will be published when the appointment is announced, as required by the Governance Code (political activity is not a bar to appointment, but must be declared).

Status of appointment

As this is an office holder appointment, you will not become a member of the Civil Service. You will not be subject to the provisions of employment law.

Appointment and tenure of office

Appointments are for the term set out in this advert, with the possibility of re-appointment for a further term, at the discretion of Ministers. Any re-appointment is subject to satisfactory annual appraisals of performance during the first term in the post. There is no automatic presumption of reappointment; each case should be considered on its own merits, taking into account a number of factors including, but not restricted to, the diversity of the current board and its balance of skills and experience. In most cases, the total time served in post will not exceed more than two terms or ten years in any one post. 

Remuneration, allowances and abatement

Remuneration for this role is treated as employment income and will be subject to tax and National Insurance contributions, both of which will be deducted at source under PAYE before you are paid.

Remuneration

• £51,310, per annum for up to 24 days attendance,
• The appointments will be for an initial period of three years, renewable for up to an additional three years by mutual agreement and in accordance with corporate governance best practice. 
• The posts are non-executive and part-time (approximately two days per month).
• Members can claim reimbursement for reasonable travel and subsistence costs necessarily incurred at rates set centrally by the Department for Transport.
• Applicants should note that the successful candidates cannot be remunerated for this role if they are being paid for an existing full-time role from the public purse.

Pension and redundancy

This is an office holder appointment and does not attract any benefits under any Civil Service Pension Scheme. You will not be eligible for redundancy pay as you are not an employee. No other arrangements have been made for compensation upon the end of your term of appointment because an office holder who is appointed for a limited duration would have no expectation of serving beyond that period.

Application feedback

We will notify you of the status of your application. We regret that we are only able to offer detailed feedback to candidates who have been unsuccessful at the interview stage.

How to complain

We aim to process all applications as quickly as possible and to treat all applicants with courtesy.

Please contact the DfT Public Appointments team in the first instance if you would like to make a complaint regarding your application at DfTPublicAppointments@dft.gov.uk.

They will acknowledge your complaint upon receipt and respond within 15 working days.

Data protection

The Cabinet Office will use your data in line with our privacy policy.

The Department for Transport (DfT) is the joint controller, with the Cabinet Office, for any personal data which you provide to us as part of your application.

Information provided as part of this application will be kept securely within DfT and destroyed within 5 years of the conclusion of the recruitment campaign.

DfT uses this form to gather evidence on DfT’s public appointments. 

The lawful basis that applies to this processing is that it is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest to inform DfT’s recruitment policies in accordance with the Department’s public sector equality duties. For processing special category personal data (disability, religion, sexual orientation and ethnicity), we rely on Article 9(2)(g), reasons of substantial public interest (equality of opportunity and treatment).

Contact details

If you have any queries about this role, please contact Sonia Jakubiak at Heidrick & Struggles on +44 (0)20 7075 4257 or email nats@heidrick.com.

Attachments

• NATS NED (PD) 2025 Candidate Pack