Job title: Chief Executive Officer
Employer: publicjobs
Location: Dublin
Closing Date: 3pm, Thursday, 16th October 2025
Salary: Starting at €168,138
About the Employer:
publicjobs is the independent centralised recruitment, assessment and selection body for the Civil Service, Health Service, Local Authorities, the Garda Síochána, Prison Service and other public service bodies.
The organisation occupies a well-respected, pivotal position in providing recruitment services across the entire public service. Its client portfolio includes many diverse organisations. The work of publicjobs ranges from traditional large volume recruitment competitions to tailored selection processes for senior professional and management positions, some of which may include an executive search dimension. The organisation handles the full range of appointments to public service administrative, technical and professional positions including internal and cross-departmental promotion competitions.
Operating in a complex regulatory environment, the organisation generally handles in excess of 80,000 applications per year; in 2024 publicjobs managed 560 recruitment campaigns and recommended 10,033 candidates for appointment.
About the Role:
The Chief Executive Officer is the Accounting Officer for the Vote of the Public Appointments Service and is responsible to the Board for the effective leadership, management and control of the administration and business of the organisation. The Chief Executive Officer has responsibility for the development and implementation of strategy and must keep abreast of developments in the recruitment industry and how related ICT can be leveraged to achieve greater efficiencies and maximise the quality and range of services provided for client organisations and candidates in times of tight resources.
The Chief Executive Officer is also guardian of the values and reputation of the organisation. As a member of the Civil Service Management Board, the Chief Executive Officer works closely with leaders across the system in seeking to exploit the unique position of publicjobs to support implementation of change across the entire public service and ensure that recruitment, selection and promotion decisions are underpinned by and promote a value system based on performance, delivery and merit.
In implementing Government policy on open recruitment and driving the successful implementation of the State Boards Appointments process, the Chief Executive Officer must nurture and develop a complex range of stakeholder relationships and ensure the wealth of opportunity for people with suitable skills to have worthwhile and rewarding careers in the civil and public service is widely recognised.
About You:
The ideal candidate for this position should:
• have a significant track record in leading a complex, high volume service delivery operation;
• have a significant track record of driving change and taking on new challenges;
• have substantial experience in the HR sector with an appreciation of the dimensions of people development and talent assessment;
• have a deep appreciation and knowledge of the recruitment and selection sphere;
• have the capacity to network and develop critical relations at the most senior levels across the public service to ensure that publicjobs is strategically positioned as a key supporting component in delivering the public service workforce for the future
• have the standing to engender confidence in their ability to deliver whilst embodying the values of fair, open, merit-based recruitment;
• have a record of independent thinking and personal integrity in upholding espoused values and ethical codes of relevance in previous roles;
• have a strong focus on providing excellent customer service with a good appreciation of the value of metrics and data analytics;
• have a strong business acumen and proven client centered perspective;
• have a proven capacity for innovation, strategic thinking and decision making;
• have a strong results focus and track record of significant achievement at senior level in a challenging environment in either the private or public sector;
• have a well-developed appreciation of best practice in governance;
• have an appreciation of information and communication technologies with particular reference to their role in change management and service delivery, and a track record of delivering operational excellence;
• have a career record that demonstrates well developed stakeholder management skills and the ability to handle conflict;
• have strong analytical skills, sound judgement and the capacity to operate in a complex and challenging legal environment;
• have excellent interpersonal skills and very well-developed communication capabilities;
• have demonstrated a strong commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.
The closing date for receipt of completed applications is 3pm on Thursday, 16th October, 2025.
We are committed to a policy of equal opportunity and encourage applications under all nine grounds of the Employment Equality Act.