Independent Chair

The role

The group designs, builds and maintains transport and utilities infrastructure in the UK and Ireland, with revenue of £2.1bn and around 9,000 employees. Its current chair reaches nine years on the board next summer, and under the UK Corporate Governance Code a successor needs to be in place before then. A new Chief Executive took over in January through internal succession, and four of the nine board seats have been refreshed in the last three years. The search is led by the Senior Independent Director on behalf of the Nomination Committee.

What you will do

• Lead a board of nine and its committees, with eight scheduled meetings a year and a two-day strategy offsite.
• Build a close working relationship with a first-time listed CEO and support the executive through the capital markets day.
• Lead engagement with the top 20 shareholders, several of whom hold more than 5%.
• Oversee succession planning for the board and the executive committee.
• Hold the board to a high standard on safety, which stays the first item on every agenda.

What you will bring

• Prior experience as a listed company chair, or as SID or a committee chair on a FTSE 350 board.
• An executive career in infrastructure, construction, utilities or another asset-heavy, contract-led business.
• Confidence with institutional investors and proxy advisers.
• An understanding of government as a client, including frameworks and long-term regulated contracts.
• Time for roughly two days a week in the first year, falling to around one and a half thereafter.

The package

A fee of £300,000 to £350,000 per annum, reviewed every three years, with no performance-related element. Shortlisted candidates meet the SID and the Nomination Committee in the week of 26 October, with the appointment announced alongside the full-year results.