Head of Service - Registration and Bereavement

Salary range: £90,865 - £111,270 p.a. inc. London weighting, plus fantastic benefits!
Contract: Permanent
Hours of work: 36 hours per week
Location: Civic centre and other locations from time to time

Leading high-profile statutory services at life’s most pivotal moments

Brent is one of London’s most diverse, dynamic boroughs. Our ambition is to be a national centre of excellence in Registration & Nationality, Mortuary and Bereavement Services — combining impeccable statutory compliance with outstanding customer experience.

This is leadership where purpose, complexity and public impact meet.

Brent Council is seeking an exceptional senior leader to head one of its most sensitive, high-profile and strategically significant service portfolios.

As Head of Service - Registration & Bereavement Services, you will provide strategic leadership across Registration & Nationality, Mortuary and Bereavement Services, including cemeteries, while holding the statutory role of Superintendent Registrar.

You will operate at the intersection of public service, regulation, community trust and commercial acumen, shaping services that touch residents at the most important moments of their lives.

This is a role for a leader who can set national standards, lead with empathy, manage political scrutiny, and grow sustainable income.

• Build a Centre of Excellence with national credibility. You will lead services that are subject to government oversight, media interest and political scrutiny — with the opportunity to position Brent as a national leader in registration, nationality and bereavement services.
• Lead scale, complexity and transformation. You will oversee a c. £7m portfolio, a workforce of 49 staff, and services operating seven days a week, balancing statutory compliance, service resilience, customer experience and financial sustainability.
• Shape income growth — responsibly and sensitively. This is a key income-generating portfolio. You will be expected to develop new business areas, maximise existing income streams, and deliver stretch targets — while maintaining dignity, trust and community confidence.
• Be trusted at the highest levels. You will work closely with government departments, coroners, regulators, elected Members, MPs, partner authorities and community leaders, representing Brent with authority and credibility.
• Champion compassionate, high-quality customer service. You will ensure pivotal life events are handled with empathy, care and dignity, setting service standards that reflect the importance of these moments for Brent residents.

• Provide strategic vision and set service standards across Registration & Nationality, Mortuary and Bereavement Services.
• Lead statutory functions as Superintendent Registrar and Designated Individual under the Human Tissue Authority (HTA), acting as Proper Officer for the Registration Service.
• Oversee the Shared Mortuary Service
  , ensuring seamless reception, storage, viewing and release of the deceased, with robust identification safeguards throughout.
• Lead Brent’s emergency planning for mass fatalities
  , serving as Resilience Mortuary Manager within the London Resilience framework.
• Drive transformation, digital improvement and customer‑centred service models
  , embedding environmental sustainability in support of Brent’s 2030 carbon‑neutral ambition.
• Manage budgets, workforce planning and performance
  , delivering efficiencies and income growth while safeguarding vulnerable residents.
• Build trusted relationships with elected Members, MPs, government departments, partner councils, charities and community groups, acting as an ambassador for Brent.

• Multi million portfolio: overall budget responsibility c. £7m, balancing pay, non pay and income lines across Registration & Nationality, Mortuary and Cemeteries.
• A sizeable, skilled workforce: leadership of 49 staff across services, ensuring resilience, wellbeing and high performance.
• Life event delivery at volume: 3,800 plus birth registrations; 2,600 registered deaths; 600 plus burials annually; 2,300 plus British citizenship certificates and 2,500 plus ceremonies; c.2,600 annual…