A Director General has been appointed for Jersey’s Infrastructure, Housing and Environment (IHE).
Andy Scate has been leading IHE as Acting Director General for the past 15 months and will now take up the position on a permanent basis. Andy was Group Director for Regulation from June 2018, and before that he spent a decade as Chief Officer of the Environment Department.
The Government of Jersey’s Interim CEO, Paul Martin, said: “I’d like to congratulate Andy on his appointment following a robust recruitment process. His skills, knowledge, and years of experience in this area of the government’s work made him a standout candidate and I look forward to continuing to work closely with him and his team in IHE.”
Andy added: “I’m delighted to have the opportunity to continue to drive forward the good work we’ve been doing across this vast and varied department.
“I’d like to thank all of the staff in IHE for their support over the past year and a half in what has been a remarkably challenging time for many. I look forward to continuing to lead the department, particularly as we edge our way out of the pandemic and adjust to many new ways of working.”
Selection process
The selection process was overseen by the Jersey Appointments Commission. The recruitment and attraction of candidates was managed by the Government resourcing team and a specialist Executive Search Firm, McLean Partnership.
The selection panel for the position was:
- Dame Janet Paraskeva – Chair of the Panel – Jersey Appointments Commission
- Paul Martin – Interim Chief Executive
- Tom Walker – Director General
- Martin Holmes – Independent panel member and executive director of Garenne Group Jersey
- Claire Kober – Independent panel members and Managing Director of The Pinnacle Group
More than 100 prospective on and off-Island candidates were targeted in the initial search for the role, which produced a formal long-list of 15 candidates for initial consideration. Five were taken forward for independent technical assessment. Following these assessments, three candidates were shortlisted for final interview (three men).
In the application procedure, candidates were asked to complete and detail the following: current salary package and expectations provide an up-to-date CV detailing their career history and achievements to provide a supporting statement on how they met the person specification of the role.
There were seven stages to the recruitment process:
- promotion of the role
- initial assessment of candidates who submitted a formal application. This was conducted by the Government’s central resourcing function and the search consultant from McLean Partnership
- candidate long-listing meeting attended by the full panel
- technical assessment
- candidate shortlisting meeting attended by the full panel
- assessment centre. Candidates undertook psychometric tests, a leadership interview and met informally with the hiring manager Paul Martin
- final panel interviews attended by the full panel
Additionally, before the final interviews, all three final candidates had a ministerial engagement meeting with Deputy Russell Labey: Minister for Housing and Communities, Deputy Kevin Lewis: Minister for Infrastructure and Deputy John Young: Minister for the Environment.
