Introduction

Thank you for your interest in becoming the Director, Estates Investment of the House of Commons. This pack will give you lots of detail about the post itself, but I would like to take this opportunity to give you my personal perspective on what it is like to work here.

I joined the House of Commons Service last summer from the private sector.  The past few months have been an intensive induction into the heart of our democratic system.

The House of Commons is a complex and fascinating place, which has to combine traditions that date back to the earliest days of our democracy with all the demands of a modern, inclusive and dynamic workplace. It welcomes and manages more than a million visitors a year who come to see the wonderful neo-gothic palace and witness our Parliament in action.

My role was created because in 2014 members of all parties came together to consider how the administration and support services of the Commons should best be managed.  The House of Commons Governance Committee discovered a real thirst for a fresh approach to the way the House is run amongst MPs and House of Commons staff alike.  All wanted stronger management and strategic leadership with greater clarity and integration between the respective roles of Members and the House Service.  Over the past months staff from all areas of the Service have been working constructively together to create our blue print for the future. 

Across the Service people have signed up to a common aim to create an organisation that is:

• Unified but not uniform
• Professional and respectful of the professional skills of others
• Customer focused
• Driven by performance measurement
• Engaged with change
• Willing to take risks and to learn from them
• Open to positive internal challenge and process improvements
• Permeable: the boundaries between organisational units are low and people regularly cross them.
• Empowering: allowing and encouraging managers to manage, and giving them responsibility whilst ensuring they are accountable.

You will need to embrace these principles, but because we are still at an early stage of change there will be plenty of opportunities for you to help shape the future agenda. 

So I am looking for someone with different approaches and innovative ways of thinking and working.  The Parliamentary Estate includes one of the country’s most iconic buildings and there is currently much debate as to how we work to assure its future.  This role is about assuring the functionality of all our estate so that it provides Parliamentarians and staff with an environment that supports 21st Century working.  You will need to have one eye on the needs of today whilst also ensuring that activity supports and works well with the demands of the broader restoration programme.

In return we can offer you a truly unique and inspirational working environment, a challenging and varied agenda which will develop your professional and leadership skills, and the chance to play a very active role in supporting our democracy.

Ian Ailles
Director General of the House of Commons