INTERVIEWS for the next chief executive of St Helens Council will take place next week.

Candidates for the job, which will pay up to £160,000, will initially be grilled by partners of the council on Monday.

Further interviews will then be conducted in private by the council’s appointments committee on Tuesday.

The committee will decide who gets the top job, with the appointment ratified at the extraordinary council meeting on Monday, December 16.

St Helens Council began its search for a permanent chief executive in October following the shock departure of Mike Palin.

St Helens Star: St Helens Council parted ways with chief executive Mike Palin in October St Helens Council parted ways with chief executive Mike Palin in October

A job advert for the post said the council is looking for a new chief executive who can “refresh and revitalise” the organisation.

The candidate will be expected to have “significant senior local government experience, excellent communication skills, strong political understanding, and the ability to deliver results and find solutions”.

Following Mr Palin’s departure, Harry Catherall was appointed as interim chief executive.

Mr Catherall retired as chief executive of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council in May following four decades in local government and agreed to come out of retirement to help steer the council through the transition.

Once the chief executive has been appointed the council is then expected to turn its attention to finding an assistant chief executive and a strategic director for place services.

St Helens Star: From left, St Helens Council leader David Baines and interim chief executive Harry CatherallFrom left, St Helens Council leader David Baines and interim chief executive Harry Catherall

Paul Sanderson, the current strategic director for place services and deputy chief executive, was due to retire at the end of this year but agreed to stay on during this transition period.

The council is also expected to seek a replacement for interim assistant chief executive Keith Ireland, who left the council in September.

Mr Ireland joined the council in April as a consultant to help with the council’s modernisation plans.

The council announced it was parting ways with Mr Ireland, who cost the council £930 a day, shortly after Mr Palin’s departure was announced.

The restructuring of the council’s senior management team will be discussed at the appointments committee on Tuesday.