CORNWALL Council – which is hundreds of millions in debt – has advertised two six-figure salary roles. The local authority, which has written to the government asking for more financial help, is looking for a new chief operating officer (COO) and monitoring officer.

The COO job is being advertised for up to £165,000, while the monitoring officer role, to lead the council’s legal services team, is £119,000 a year with a pay award pending.

The current COO, Tracie Langley, who joined the council four years ago is retiring. There was criticism about a “lack of transparency” when she first got the job after it was revealed that Ms Langley, under her former name Tracie Evans, had been found guilty of professional misconduct by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) in 2014.

She had admitted to CIPFA that she had signed off accounts for a company she was a director of using the name and signature of a co-director without their knowledge. She received a “severe reprimand” by CIPFA. Cornwall Council said that it was “fully aware” of her history before she was appointed.

It is understood that Cornwall Council’s current monitoring officer Henry Gordon-Lennox, who has been in the role for just under two years, is leaving to take up another legal position elsewhere.

Earlier this year, it was reported that Cornwall Council was in debt to the tune of over £700-million, with the figure standing at £716,627,000 in figures released by the BBC Shared Data Unit, representing £1,253 debt for every resident.

The council has faced continual financial challenges, including an overspend of £5.1-million in children and family services and £5-million in school transport services. Housing was also expected to go over budget this year by up to £11-million.

Responding to the need for two officers with a combined wage of over a quarter of a million pounds, a spokesperson for the local authority said: “Cornwall Council is one of the largest unitary councils in England with annual expenditure of over £1.4-billion – bigger than some FTSE companies – and a work force of more than 5,000 directly employed staff delivering a wide range of services to the people of Cornwall.

“They are accountable for delivering a huge variety of functions and services that impact on the daily lives of more than 500,000 people.

“When setting the salaries for its senior staff, the council takes proper account of relevant labour market information and, in particular, the salaries for local government roles of a similar scope, scale and complexity.

“We are very aware of the financial challenges facing the council and continually strive to provide the best possible value for our taxpayers, and when benchmarked against local authorities of a similar size we are comparatively lean on management.”

According to the job advert, the person employed as COO will have to be “an outstanding, experienced and resourceful person who can grasp the breadth of our ambitions for Cornwall. We’ve made significant strides in recent years in embedding concepts such as outcomes-based budgeting, cross-council working, digital transformation and the importance of change. Your job is to consolidate these strong foundations into a fluent and integrated programme that makes things happen.

“Candidates must bring an impressive track record of achieving lasting change, and must know how to manage significant budgets and manage teams through a culture of continuous improvement. You’ll understand how to work effectively despite complexity, and will bring a total focus on delivery.”

The Service Director Legal and Assurance (Monitoring Officer) will lead a team of around 120 to deliver legal and democratic services, internal audit and elections. “You’ll also be the council’s statutory Monitoring Officer and part of the Corporate Leadership Team, working closely with the CEO and colleagues to promote high standards in public life and ensure effective governance,” states the role profile. “As we embark on our second period of devolution, you’ll provide expertise on emerging models which enable us to maximise the benefits and safeguards of this opportunity.”

Candidates must be legally qualified and show that they have extensive professional experience at a senior level in large, complex organisations.

For more details on both roles and to apply see the council website: faerfield.co.uk/jobs/permanent-roles/cornwall-council/current-opportunities/chief-operating-officer