SRO and Director of Operations

The Animal and Plant Health Agency's Weybridge campus sits at the heart of the UK's biosecurity capability. Its specialist laboratories and facilities support surveillance, research and outbreak response, helping to protect public and animal health, food security and trade. The Government is now making a major investment in the site through the National Biosecurity Centre Programme. The programme is estimated to cost £2.8 billion, with construction expected to begin in 2027 and the new facility planned to open in 2033.

As Senior Responsible Owner (SRO), you will lead the successful delivery of this complex programme, providing strategic leadership of the client-side function and oversight of delivery partners to ensure objectives for safety, quality, cost, schedule, performance and long-term value are met. Alongside delivery of the new infrastructure, you will lead preparations for commissioning and future operations, ensuring that the people, capabilities, systems and processes are in place to make the transition successfully.

The role extends beyond the construction programme. As SRO and Director of Operations for Weybridge, you will provide strategic oversight of the wider estate, maintaining business continuity and operational resilience while critical national biosecurity work continues throughout the transformation. You will help shape the long-term vision for Weybridge and lead significant organisational and operational change across multiple organisations. You will also build trusted relationships with senior stakeholders across government and beyond, including ministers, HM Treasury, the Cabinet Office, delivery partners and scientific leaders, securing confidence and support for the programme.

You will be an accomplished senior leader with proven experience of leading a major, complex infrastructure or construction programme, together with significant experience of operational delivery, operational readiness or transition into operations within a large-scale, complex environment. You will bring strong commercial acumen and significant experience of governance, risk and assurance, with the judgement and credibility to build confidence with senior stakeholders, including Ministers, government departments, delivery partners and other key stakeholders. You will also have a strong track record of leading transformational change, building organisational capability and creating high-performing, inclusive teams that can deliver successfully across organisational boundaries.

This is an opportunity to lead a programme with a significant and enduring national purpose: helping to create the scientific infrastructure the UK needs to protect animal and public health, food security and trade for decades to come. Applications are welcomed from candidates from a wide range of backgrounds who can demonstrate the leadership, infrastructure delivery, operational and transformation experience required for this complex role.

Apply before Midday on Wednesday 18th November 2026

489977

£125,000

circa £125,000

A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

SCS Pay Band 2

Permanent

Senior leadership

Full-time

1

London, Weybridge

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is seeking an exceptional leader to become Senior Responsible Owner for the National Biosecurity Centre Programme and Director of Operations at Weybridge. This is a rare opportunity to lead one of the UK's most significant science and infrastructure programmes, delivering a new National Biosecurity Centre that will strengthen the country's ability to prevent, detect and respond to animal and zoonotic disease threats.

It is important that, through your CV and supporting statement, you give evidence and examples of proven experience of each of the selection criteria.

You will need to be able to show, through your application, that you have the professional skills and breadth of experience for this post, as well as the leadership skills to succeed at Director level.

This role blends strategic delivery with operational transformation, ideal for a leader who thrives on complexity, impact, and legacy.

• Proven leadership of a major, complex infrastructure or construction programme, together with significant experience of operational delivery, operational readiness or transition into operations within a large-scale, complex environment.
• The credibility, judgement and influencing skills to build confidence with senior stakeholders, including Ministers, government departments, delivery partners and other key stakeholders, while constructively challenging assumptions in a complex environment.
• Strong commercial acumen and governance expertise within complex operating frameworks for risk and assurance, benefits and reporting.
• Ability to lead transformational change, build capability, and inspire a high-performance culture within your own team and across multiple organisations.
• A strong track record of building and leading high-performing, inclusive teams, setting clear expectations and creating a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.

Alongside your salary of £125,000, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £36,212 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Saxton Bampfylde Ltd is acting as an employment agency advisor to the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on this appointment. For further information about the role, including details about how to apply, please visit roles.saxbam.com using reference OCCAB. Alternatively email belinda.beck@saxbam.com. Applications should be received by noon on Friday 18th December.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

• Name : SCS Recruitment
• Email : belinda.beck@saxbam.com

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