INTERVIEWS for the second of Herefordshire Council’s top jobs on offer are set for tomorrow.

The council’s employment panel meets behind closed doors at the Shirehall to select a director of adults and wellbeing on a salary of  £120,000.

Current director Helen Coombes is stepping down from her interim appointment in September.

Service performance and financial planning are the key responsibilities for a role that comes with a salary worth just over £98,000.

In April, the Hereford Times revealed the council as ready to shell out a five figure sum to recruit three top bosses on salaries collectively worth nearly £300,000.

Last week, the council confirmed current interim chief financial officer Peter Robinson as its new director of resources.

Mr Robinson was the “unanimous” choice of the employment panel and receives a salary of just over £98,000.

Earlier this year, the Hereford Times revealed that the council was ready to pitch a recruitment package costing around £36,300 – and covered by existing budgets - that took in three senior roles: director of adults and wellbeing, director of resources and assistant director (commissioning) adults and well being.

Together, the three roles collectively attract salaries worth nearly £300,000.

Short listing assessment for the director adults and wellbeing post was done in the week prior to the council election in May.

The recruitment process for the three posts was approved by the employment panel  in January.

For director of adults and wellbeing the panel has direct responsibility for recruitment.

In February, full council approved the annual salary for the director of adult and wellbeing as £120,000.

Three quotations for specialist recruitment expertise were sought by the council with West Midlands Employers (WME) - recruiting for  councils and the wider public sector  appointed, partnering with specialist executive search consultants Veredus.

It was advice from WME that prompted the parallel recruitment campaign for the posts of director of adults and wellbeing and the directorate’s assistant director (commissioning).

The vacancies were targeted for “full colour, prime positioning” advertisements for both posts in the Municipal Journal, accompanied by an interview with chief executive Alistair Neill.

In January, the Hereford Times revealed that Herefordshire Council was ready to pay some £60,000 to recruit a new set of permanent senior managers on salaries into six figures to replace existing interim roles.

The other role to be recruited was director of public health.

Over the year, the council will review posts filled by agency staff and recruitment to those posts where they are key long-term roles.

Behind the scenes, the council has considered continuing with interim arrangements, an option over-ruled by an acknowledged need for stability in organisational leadership.

The redesigning of roles and responsibilities to combine chief officer functions has also been considered but not pursued as significant reduction in the senior team has already taken place, limiting the scope for further combination.

Overtures to neighbouring councils about shared chief officer roles have not progressed, with no workable models emerging.