Job mobility

There are different takes on career mobility.  Richard Deverell, who originally said he would "probably rent in the short term and probably buy in the long term", is the COO of BBC North who's leaving the job before serious operations start in Salford Quays - and will probably only stay in Manchester hotels before re-emerging in London as "Programme Director W12 Project".  This is a role that doesn't seem to have been advertised.

Richard tells staff newspaper, Ariel, this week "I've been in the job for two and half years, and the issue was how long did I want to carry on. That's what it all boiled down to".

So how long should one stay in a BBC post ?  Richard has had a moderately mobile career in the BBC since joining in 1992 as a strategist, but all London-based. His home, wife and three children, are in Guildford.

He studied Natural Sciences at Magdalen College, Cambridge, 1984-87, then spent time with various unnamed management consultancies. The central BBC strategy team he joined in 1992 was working on Charter Renewal, achieved in 1996. In 1995 he wrote a paper for DG John Birt on "the information superhighway", which, he says, led to Birt seeking out Bill Gates in the States, and coming back as an online zealot.  Also that year, Richard moved to be strategist for Tony Hall, in charge of Birt's bi-media News division.  In 1998, he picked up control of marketing as well as strategy; and then in 2000, in a move seen as part of Tony's "lavender list", was created Head of New Media, News, above some serious hacks who had driven News Online forward.

Time past, and Richard's next move came in June 2005, when he was appointed COO for CBBC by Alison Sharman.  The move to Manchester had been announced officially in December 2004 - but perhaps commitments were not necessary then, with the move date six years away.  However, you might have expected more commitment when Richard was appointed Controller of Children's in February 2006, after Alison's departure to ITV. And perhaps an even deeper commitment when he became COO North and Deputy to Peter Salmon in March 2009 (another job that seems not to have been advertised) .

Richard is on a basic of £225k, and a total package worth £232,800.  This morning, Lord Patten told Today he thought some executives were still overpaid, but refused to name them.  What salary does this new, unadvertised job of W12 Programme Director, attract ?  Keith Beal, who seemed to be doing a similar job until his departure last month, pulled in £179k last year, but clearly had some considerable bonuses which brought his package up to £317k.  Perhaps Richard has discussed it with BBC senior non-executive director Marcus Agius, chairman of Barclay's Bank.   Richard and Marcus were together as Trustees of Kew Gardens from 2006 to 2009.

Richard is succeeded as COO North by Alice Webb, currently Project North's Programme Director. Alice has been managing that job from her home base in Surrey - but now says "I will be moving lock stock and barrel".  It is, however, another job that hasn't been offered to competitive selection, thus...

Jobs will normally be advertised internally, and, where necessary, may also be advertised at the same time in the appropriate external media. The fundamental principle of this policy is that, except in a minority of cases (eg where there are suitably qualified people seeking redeployment or where the field of candidates is already known), jobs are filled using a competitive recruitment and selection process.