Appointment details

Chair - National Savings and Investments

Summary

• Organisation: National Savings and Investments
• Sponsor department: HM Treasury
• Location: London
• Sectors: Business and Trade
• Skills: Business
• Number of vacancies: 1
• Time commitment: 60 day(s) per annum
• Remuneration: £48,000 per annum
• Length of term: 3 years
• Application deadline: 12:15pm on 13 August 2026

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Timeline for this appointment

1. Opening date

   16 July 2026

2. Application deadline

   12:15pm on 13 August 2026

3. Sifting date

   27 August 2026

4. Interviews expected to end on

   25 September 2026

Timeline dates are only an estimate and can change

About the appointment

Additional introductions

Thank you for your interest in leading National Savings and Investments’ (NS&I) Board as Chair. 

NS&I is one of the largest savings organisations in the UK with over 24 million customers and more than £240 billion invested. 

NS&I is both a government department and an Executive Agency of the Chancellor of the Exchequer and plays a key role in the government’s debt financing strategy. NS&I’s core objective is to raise cost-effective finance for the government, and the money savers invest with NS&I is used by the government to fund its spending and priorities.

NS&I is going through a significant period of transition following recent reviews of its transformation programme and an announcement of errors in its bereavement claims processes.

The pace of change in the UK financial services sector is rapid, and NS&I needs to be operationally resilient and able to respond in a nimble, proactive way to changes in policy or in the broader savings market. NS&I is on a journey to recover delivery of its transformation programme and become a true digital business with full support for vulnerable customers. The new Chair will be expected to steer and support NS&I on the next phase of this journey to deliver the right outcomes for customers and the taxpayer. 

At the same time, NS&I must also ensure it does right by its customers following confirmation of an error within its bereavement claims processes. Customers must be reunited with their funds and compensated appropriately. The new Chair will need to support NS&I throughout this process to ensure NS&I delivers the right outcomes for its customers. 

It is crucial that the panel finds the right candidate to support NS&I during this crucial part of their journey. To achieve this, the recruitment panel encourages applicants from underrepresented groups so NS&I can better reflect the society it serves, encourage diverse ideas, and be open to perspectives that challenge prevailing wisdom. 

If you have the skills and experience that we are looking for and are motivated to lead the NS&I Board and leadership team to develop and grow our business, then we look forward to hearing from you and wish you every success with your application.

Thank you, once again, for your interest in this role and for taking the time to read through this pack, which provides further information. We look forward to hearing from you.

Professor Brian Bell

Chief Economic Adviser, Director General Economics and Fiscal at HM Treasury, Head of the Government Economic Service

Appointment description

As the Chair, you will be the lead Non-Executive Director, accountable to the relevant Minister for the performance of the NS&I Board and ensuring its effectiveness in all aspects of its role, including ensuring that NS&I can continue to serve savers and the government for generations. Your primary roles as the Chair will be to:

• Provide outstanding leadership to the Board as it oversees NS&I’s transformation, ensuring the organisation gains the full anticipated benefits of its move to a multi-supplier operating model, including securing strong, resilient infrastructure and a flexible and scalable operation.  
• Shape the Board and ensure that it gives clear strategic direction to the organisation.
• Use your excellent communication and engagement skills to guide your relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, including Ministers, senior HMT officials, customers and the media.
• Play an inspiring role as chair for the Board’s discussions and decision-making, considering the impact of decisions on different stakeholders and providing constructive challenge and support to the management team.
• Demonstrate the high standards of integrity and behaviour expected of public body Non-Executive Director  and ensure the Board operates with probity and in line with prevailing governance requirements.

In addition to the responsibilities above, further details of the Chair’s and NS&I Board’s formal responsibilities are provided in the Framework Document between NS&I and HM Treasury and the Board’s terms of reference. 

More information about NS&I can be found on its website at www.nsandi.com.

The main tasks of the independent Non-Executive Board members and NS&I Chair include: 

Strategy 

Helping ensure a sound strategy for NS&I is in place serving the interests of government and meeting agreed performance targets. Independent Non-Executive Board members support the development of the strategy by challenging the Executive Team in terms of robustness and contributing ideas, bringing their own expertise and experience to bear as external sources of advice on key strategic issues.

Management and oversight

Playing a key role in the monitoring, continuous evaluation of and, where necessary, challenging the performance and competence of NS&I’s senior Executives. This includes challenging behaviour demonstrated by Executive Directors that is not in line with NS&I’s values and accepted corporate ethical standards. They will also contribute to the development of NS&I’s outsourcing the partnership.

Risk and compliance 

Providing effective leadership of NS&I within a framework of prudent and effective controls which enables risk to be assessed and managed.

Governance 

Contributing as a member of the Board and its sub-committees. Independent Non-Executive Board members also develop the effectiveness of NS&I’s governance structure, as appropriate, giving independent assurance to HM Treasury Ministers that NS&I abides by the highest standard of business conduct. The Board adopts the Annual Report and Accounts and gives support to its signature by the Accounting Officer.

Organisation description

Who we are 

National Savings and Investments (NS&I) is one of the largest savings organisations in the UK with more than £240 billion invested. NS&I is both a government department and an Executive Agency of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and our origins can be traced back more than 164 years to 1861. Best known for Premium Bonds, but also offering a wide range of other savings products, when customers invest in NS&I products, they are lending to the government. In return the government offers 100% security on all deposits and pays interest or prizes for Premium Bonds. This means that we are backed by HM Treasury – which keeps every single penny of our 24 million customers' savings safe. When people save money with us, they are lending money to the government and being part of NS&I means customers are contributing towards something that will positively impact millions of lives. 

Our purpose 

Our aim is raise cost-effective finance for government. This is achieved by offering a portfolio of secure retail financial savings and investments products, providing a means of raising funds for government alongside on the wholesale 

market. We want to inspire a stronger savings culture. We believe everyone should have the opportunity to save confidently. 

Our mission 

• Providing cost-effective financing for government and the public good
• Offering trusted savings and investments propositions to customers
• Delivering valued services for government
• Supporting a fair and competitive market and balancing the interests of our savers, taxpayers and the market

Board composition

N&I’s Chair leads its advisory Board. The Board assists in developing NS&I’s strategy and advises on the operational implications and effectiveness of policy proposals, as well as scrutinising performance and challenging Executive Directors on how well NS&I is achieving its objectives. The Chief Executive is required to follow the advice of the Board, except where it conflicts with his or her obligations as Accounting Officer.

In particular, NS&I’s Board advises on five main areas: 

• strategic clarity: setting the NS&I vision 
• commercial sense: scrutinising the allocation of financial and human resources 
• talented people: ensuring NS&I has secured sufficient capability and capacity to meet current and future needs 
• results focused: agreeing the corporate plan and monitoring its delivery
• management information: ensuring that clear, consistent and comparable performance information is 

The NS&I Board is comprised of:

• up to five independent Non-Executive directors, one of whom acts as Chair of the Board 
• the Chief Executive and other Executive Directors
• up to two representatives from HM Treasury

Please see here for the current composition of the Board.

Person specification

Essential criteria

Candidates for this role must have the following experience: 

• We are looking for an exceptional individual with prior Board experience, ideally as a chair, who will develop the open transparent culture in the Board, where constructive challenge is embraced; and incidents and emerging issues are brought forward promptly. We are looking for someone who will leverage this experience to provide challenge to plans and proposals, whilst also supporting NS&I to pave the way forward.
• Candidates are required to have experience in the consumer finance sector with experience of taking a retail customer-centric approach to development and delivery of retail products and services, ideally gained in consumer centric financial services or similar. 
• The ideal candidate will also bring extensive experience of major change or transformation programmes, to bring specific insight to Board discussions, together with commercial experience, which may come from consultancy, relevant to our broader business. 
• Good practical understanding of UK financial markets.

Candidates for this role must display the following characteristics:

• Independence and impartiality, including an ability to question or challenge the NS&I Executive, using and applying their experience from elsewhere, and to challenge constructively the existing way of doing things.
• Business strategy skills, including an ability to interpret business and management information to determine business performance and development, an ability to simplify and focus on big issues, an ability to understand and appreciate the impact of the transformational change that has already taken place within NS&I and to support the continuing need for change.

Candidates for this role must demonstrate the following key competencies 

• Influencing and communicating skills, including an ability to develop an effective and constructive relationship with the Chief Executive, other Executive and Non-Executive Board members and other key external stakeholders and influencers.
• An understanding of government and public sector governance requirements and the way of working; or the ability to quickly gain this understanding. Direct experience of the public sector is not required.
• Make clear and objective evidence-based recommendations to support the delivery of NS&I’s objectives, within an understanding of the work, priorities, and challenges of the context in which it operates.

Application and selection process

How to apply

To help you succeed, we have provided application guidance on our public appointments campaign page. In order to apply you will need to create an account or sign in. Once you are logged into your account, click on 'apply for this role' and follow the on-screen instructions.

Hays Recruitment is appointed to advise NS&I on this recruitment. The closing date for applications is 13th August at 12:15pm.

To apply for this role, all applicants must complete both of the following steps:

Step 1: Submit your declarations via the Public Appointments Website.

Applicants must create or log into their public appointments account via: https://apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk/roles/9523/apply

Through this portal, you will be asked to complete:

• An Equality Information 
• An Outside Interests and reputational issues 
• Personal details including address
• A short biography

We will ask you to check and confirm your personal details to ensure your application is accurate. You will also have the opportunity to make a reasonable adjustment request or apply under the disability confident scheme before you submit your application. 

Step 2: Submit your application via the Hays application portal: https://www.applybe.com/haysapply/search/vacancy/all/1/7091425

As part of this step in the process you will need to provide:

• Supporting Statement

This should address the essential criteria in the Person Specification and demonstrate evidence of your suitability for the role against the essential criteria. Maximum length: 2 sides of A4.

• Curriculum Vitae

Maximum length: 4 sides of A4.

Please note: your application will not be considered without completing both steps.  If an applicant does not complete the declarations, or does not provide a CV and Covering letter, their submission will not be progressed as a valid application. 

If you require any adjustments or have questions about the process, you should contact the team as early as possible using the email listed under 'Contact details' at the end of the advertisement.

You will also be asked to share your CV, supporting statement and a short professional statement with the executive search firm.

Your application is not complete until all the information set out above is provided ahead of 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)

Stephen Farrington – Departmental Official

Chair - Director of Fiscal Group at HM Treasury 

Stephen Farrington has no political activity to declare.

Dr Vanessa Lawrence CB – Independent Panel Member

Independent Panel Member, Non-Executive Director of UK Government Investments

Dr Vanessa Lawrence CB has no political activity to declare.

Rodney Norman CBE – Independent Panel Member

Independent Panel Member, recently a Non-Executive Member of the Audit and Risk Committee, UK Debt Management Office

Rodney Norman CBE has no political activity to declare.

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  [ADD CONTACT DETAILS]

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. Public Offices and bodies are most effective when they reflect the diversity of the society they serve and this is an important part of the Government’s commitment to breaking down barriers to opportunity.

We collect and monitor diversity data about applicants’ characteristics, including people’s educational and professional backgrounds, to understand the diversity of applicants and appointees. As set out in section 3 of our privacy notice, we do this to ensure we are attracting a broad range of people and our selection processes are fair for everyone. Without this information, it is difficult to see whether the application process is having an unfair impact on certain groups or our changes are making a positive difference.

When you apply, you can select “prefer not to say” to any question you do not wish to answer. Once you submit your application, your responses are collected by the Cabinet Office and the government department(s) managing your application. We use this anonymised data to create reports on the timing and outcomes of our recruitment campaigns, as well as the diversity of our appointees. This transparency helps us create a fairer environment for everyone by highlighting where we need to do better.

Disability confident

We are a member of the Government’s Disability Confident scheme. We use the Disability Confident scheme symbol to show our commitment to good practice in appointing disabled people. The scheme helps our organisation recruit and retain the expertise of these applicants, supporting their journey into leadership roles in public life. 

As part of the scheme, the panel will aim to offer an interview to those who meet the essential criteria for the role, set out in the advertisement, and who have asked that their application be considered under the scheme. If a high volume of applications is received, the panel will ensure that a proportionate number of interviews are offered to disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria, rather than all of those candidates.

Indicating that you wish your application to be considered under the scheme will not prejudice your application. By ‘essential criteria' we mean that you must provide evidence which demonstrates how you meet the level of competence required under each criteria. This does not mean that all disabled applicants are entitled to an interview. If you have any questions or want to discuss your application in confidence, please contact the team as early as possible using the email listed under 'Contact details' at the end of the advertisement.

Reasonable adjustments

We are committed to making reasonable adjustments to ensure applicants with disabilities and/or, long term conditions, covered under both the Equality Act 2010 (England, Scotland & Wales) and Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Northern Ireland) are not substantially disadvantaged when applying for public appointments. 

We aim to create an accessible and supportive experience that allows every applicant to demonstrate their full range of talents and perspectives and work closely with applicants to ensure that any necessary reasonable adjustments are in place to remove any barriers. 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 (for example, large print);
• making adaptations to interview locations including hybrid arrangements;
• allowing applicants to present their skills and experience in a different way, for example receiving interview themes in advance, having additional processing time during assessments, or choosing a communication style that best showcases their skills. Examples of different styles may include a video or audio application or a presentation in place of a supporting statement;
• giving additional detailed information on the selection and interview process in advance to allow applicants time to prepare themselves;
• arranging support such as British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters or allowing support workers;
• making provision for support animals to attend where possible;

If you require any reasonable adjustments, you will have the chance to request these early in the application process;

If you have any questions or want to discuss your application in confidence, you should contact the team as early as possible using the email listed under 'Contact details' at the end of the advertisement.

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.

You can claim reimbursement for reasonable travel and subsistence costs which are properly and necessarily incurred on official business, in line with the travel and subsistence policy and rates for the organisation to which you are applying.

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.

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

Please contact Hays in the first instance if you would like to make a complaint regarding your application by emailing katie.attrill@hays.com 

If you are not satisfied with how Hays dealt with your complaint, please contact the HMT Public Appointments team at PublicAppointments-HMT@hmtreasury.gov.uk

Data protection

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

The Treasury will use your data in line with its privacy policy

The NS&I's privacy notice is here 

Hays privacy notice is here. 

Attachments

• Candidate pack

Contact details

For a confidential conversation or for more information about the role, please contact our retained search partners Hays Executive:

Nick Irow, Senior Director

nick.irow@hays.com

Andrew Timlin, Director

Andrew.Timlin@hays.com