OIC appoints to Head of Service Posts

Orkney Islands Council has appointed to three vacant Head of Service posts this week.

Kenny MacPherson will take on the role of Head of Property, Asset Management and Facilities.  He'll be responsible for a range of services including ICT infrastructure and support, health and safety, civil contingencies and estates and property management.
Kenny joined Orkney Islands Council in 2016 as IT Services Manager.

He said: “Returning to Orkney in 2016 after a career working in various technology roles, it was great to see how much progress there’s been but also so much of the familiar heritage that we treasured so much.

“Everyone plays a unique part in making Orkney one of the best places to live and work whether it’s the cleaning staff who have kept our facilities tidy and safe, the teams who look after our incredible and sometimes historic estate of properties, or civil contingencies, who have guided us through the pandemic  - or those staff working on future projects including our amazing new buildings and of course our technology teams keeping the digital systems up and running.

“I’m delighted to take up the role, there’s much work to do, much to keep in good order and many to be thanked for their efforts through the past few years.”

Hayley Green is the Council's Corporate Director for Neighbourhood Services and Infrastructure. She said: "Kenny has an excellent track record of improvement and delivering high quality services.  His service area is a challenging one and he will be an integral part of the team as the Council looks to meet some of these challenges head on.”

The Head of Improvement and Performance role will be filled by Alex Rodwell.  He'll be responsible for a diverse range of services including corporate strategy, community planning, elections, customer services, community councils and communications.

Alex joined Orkney Islands Council in 2016, working with teams across the whole organisation on service improvements.  He has a Master’s degree in Engineering, with a career focused on improvement projects, service redesign and business support. 

Commenting on his appointment Alex said: “This is an exciting opportunity, and I am looking forward to working with the team as we tackle the challenges ahead of us.  For me this will always start with putting people and the community at the centre of what we do.”

Karen Greaves is the Council's Corporate Director for Strategy, Improvement and Business Solutions.  She said: "I am delighted to appoint Alex to this important role.  Alex's strengths lie in improving the intrinsic processes within an organisation that often go unseen by our external customers - but can actually make the biggest difference to them, by improving efficiency and overall customer experience.  I'm looking forward to working with Alex on some of these future improvements."

Erik Knight will take on the role of Head of Finance, with responsibility for all the Council's finance-based services including accountancy, revenues, benefits, payroll and pensions.

Erik first joined the Council in 2002 working in various finance roles before moving to work for Scholes and then NOV, before re-joining the Council in March 2022 as Service Manager for Accountancy.

Erik said: “As a ACCA qualified accountant I have gained a broad range of relevant, transferable and practical experience in practice, including the Big 4, the public sector and industry.  I am looking forward to using this experience to challenge existing practices and encourage the development of innovative, digital and modern solutions to Council wide financial recording and service delivery.”

Gareth Waterson is the Council's Corporate Director for Enterprise and Sustainable Regeneration.  He said: "The services that our finance team provide, whilst not always visible to the public, are vital to the smooth running, efficiency and sustainability of the Council as a whole.  I am delighted to have appointed someone with Erik’s knowledge and experience to the role in which he will be able to draw on his previous Council accounting and audit experience and his more recent knowledge gained in accountancy practice and industry.”

Heads of Service are a pivotal part of the extended Corporate Management Team, sharing leadership responsibilities and accountability for the success of the Council. They provide a critical link between the operational and service delivery requirements of the council and the formulation and implementation of service and organisational strategy at Extended Corporate Leadership Team level.