Greenwich Council’s chief executive Debbie Warren is to retire this year after nine years in the top job.
Warren began working for the council’s finance department in 1980 and became its director of finance in 2009. She became acting chief executive in 2017, and was confirmed in the role the following year.
While the council leader gives the town hall its political direction, it is the chief executive who is in charge of its £300 million budget and 4,000 staff and oversees elections.
The search has now begun for a new chief executive to replace Warren, who earned between £215,000 and £220,000 per year and had worked alongside three different council leaders – Denise Hyland, Danny Thorpe and Anthony Okereke, who will be leader for four more years after Labour won a majority of seats in this month’s council election.
A job advertisement published on Thursday suggests that Warren’s successor could earn about £240,000 a year.
Warren is a well-liked figure at the town hall and, as its finance chief and then chief executive, highly-rated after steering the council through 16 years of government funding squeezes.
She also worked alongside Thorpe in the council’s response to the Covid pandemic.
Warren will continue in her role as a commissioner at Croydon Council, which is saddled with huge debts after years of financial mismanagement and an ill-fated venture into property development.
She said: “Having started my career in the finance team at Greenwich in 1980, and leading the council as chief executive since 2018, I have decided it is the right time to pass the baton onto someone else.
“I am incredibly grateful to have spent my career working to deliver real impact to our diverse and wonderful communities across the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is a wonderful place to work and I know will continue in its success for residents with a new chief executive at the helm.”
Okereke said: “Debbie has been an exceptional leader for the council and for all residents, businesses and partners across the Royal Borough of Greenwich. She has guided the council through significant periods of change and challenge, including managing funding pressures alongside changing and rising need for services.
“Debbie has always put the people of the borough first, and has had a deep positive impact on the borough which will be felt by our communities for many years to come.”
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