Director of Streets and Environment

Overview

Croydon is one of London's largest and most diverse boroughs, home to more than 390,000 residents, with a proud civic history and a clear ambition to deliver better outcomes for its communities. The Council is operating in a challenging context, with significant financial pressures and high public expectations, but it is also at a point of renewal - focused on stability, delivery and rebuilding trust through consistently good public services.

We are now seeking a Director of Streets and Environment to lead a portfolio that sits at the very heart of residents' everyday experience of Croydon. This is a senior, high-profile leadership role with responsibility for some of the Council's most visible and operationally complex services, from waste and recycling, highways and traffic management, parks and open spaces, through to environmental health, licensing, parking, SEND transport and fleet management.

• Lead a large and diverse directorate reporting to the Corporate Director of Sustainable Communities, Regeneration and Economic Recovery, with accountability for significant budgets, income streams and transformation activity.
• Balance strong operational grip with long-term strategic thinking to ensure services are safe, compliant and responsive, while driving improvement, efficiency and value for money.
• Operate in a highly political and public-facing context, advising elected members with clarity and confidence and working constructively with partners across London and beyond.
• Act as the Council's senior professional lead across highways, traffic, environmental protection and waste, and as Croydon"s representative on the South London Waste Partnership.
• Contribute to Croydon"s ambitions around climate resilience, net zero and environmental sustainability by turning plans into practical, deliverable action.
• Maintain the basics that matter most to residents: clean streets, reliable waste services, safe roads, well-managed parks and fair, proportionate regulation.

• Experience as a senior leader, ideally from local government or a comparable public sector environment, with a track record of leading complex operational services at scale.
• Strong financial judgement, experience delivering savings and service improvement, and the ability to build and sustain high-performing, inclusive teams.
• Resilience, emotional intelligence and a collaborative leadership style, with a clear commitment to public service and to the people who live and work in Croydon.

For more information please contact our search partners, Ben Parsonage or Louise Bickley () for a confidential conversation.

Closing date:
Sunday 15th February