Gambling Commission Advertises for a Chief Executive at £190,000, Close to What Rhodes Was Paid

Britain's gambling regulator has opened the search for a permanent chief executive, eight months after it announced Andrew Rhodes would leave. The salary has barely moved, but the job description now asks the winner to deliver a return on the Treasury's money for fighting illegal gambling.

• The Gambling Commission is recruiting a permanent chief executive at a salary of about £190,000, with applications closing at noon on 23 October and a final panel interview on 9 December, according to the recruitment microsite run by GatenbySanderson
• Andrew Rhodes, who left on 30 April and has since joined the advisory firm Hawkbridge, was paid between £190,000 and £195,000 in 2024 to 2025, plus a bonus of £15,000 to £20,000, according to the Commission's annual report
• The job description asks the new chief to lead the Illegal Markets programme and deliver a return on the Treasury's three-year investment from 2026 to 2027, alongside the Gambling Act Review and the National Lottery
• Ruth Evans, chair since 30 September, wrote the welcome to candidates and chairs a panel that includes a Director General from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)
• Sarah Gardner, the deputy chief executive, has been acting chief executive since Rhodes stepped back, and the Commission did not announce the interim appointment it said in February it would recruit

The Commission Is Hiring a Permanent Chief on the Old Pay

The Gambling Commission is advertising for a chief executive on a permanent contract at "c. £190,000 per annum", based in Birmingham with an average of two days a week in the office and regular travel to London, according to the recruitment microsite run by the executive search firm GatenbySanderson. The role carries a Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%, about £55,000 a year at that salary. Applications close at noon on Friday 23 October. Preliminary interviews run from 5 to 13 November, and a final panel interview and stakeholder exercise is set for 9 December. SBC News reported the advert on 9 October.

The panel is Evans, Emma Ward, Director General at DCMS, the commissioner and former interim chair Charles Counsell, Natasha Harris, the Commission's executive director of people services, and an independent member. Under the Gambling Act 2005, the Commission appoints its chief executive itself, with the Culture Secretary's consent as to terms and conditions. The successful candidate must hold or be able to obtain Developed Vetting security clearance, and will also be the Commission's Accounting Officer.

In her welcome, Evans says the Commission has "ambitious plans for the future and a clear strategic direction", and that the next chief executive will be responsible for "translating strategic ambition into delivery". The job description is more specific. It lists leading the implementation of the Gambling Act Review, overseeing the National Lottery "to maximise returns to good causes", and leading the Illegal Markets programme, "delivering a return on HM Treasury's 3 year investment from 2026-27". That investment is the £26 million over three years announced in the November 2025 Budget, according to the Commission's 2026 to 2027 business plan.

Prior chief executive experience is desirable, not essential. So is knowledge of the gambling sector, with a caveat: "Candidates with direct industry experience should be able to demonstrate their ability to act impartially and maintain public confidence."

Eight Months From Announcement to Advert

The Commission announced on 9 February that Rhodes would leave on 30 April after almost five years, and said it would "shortly begin the process of recruiting a Chief Executive for an interim period", with Gardner stepping up as acting chief executive meanwhile. No interim appointment was announced. Sky News reported in March that Rhodes was in talks with Hawkbridge, and the move was confirmed in June; the Commission said he had been "open with us about his plans", according to SBC News. Tim Miller, the executive director for policy and research, left at the end of June and has since launched his own consultancy.

In 2024 to 2025, Rhodes's salary was in the £190,000 to £195,000 band and his total remuneration, including pension benefits, was £300,000 to £305,000, according to the Commission's annual report. Gardner, then deputy, was paid £150,000 to £155,000.

The Pay Has Not Moved, but the Job Has

The advertised salary sits at the bottom of Rhodes's band for 2024 to 2025. The job it pays for is bigger. Licence fees were set to rise by a headline 25% from 1 October after DCMS decided an increase was needed to avoid "significant cutbacks", so the new chief will run a regulator that operators are paying substantially more for, at a time when they are absorbing higher gambling duties. The Treasury money for illegal markets now comes with an explicit expectation of a return, and as Accounting Officer the chief executive gives Parliament assurance on how public money is spent. And the business plan says 2026 to 2027 is the final year of the Commission's three-year corporate strategy, so whoever is appointed will write the next one. Enforcement has not paused for the vacancy: Grosvenor's £5 million settlement was announced on 7 October. A salary set within public-sector constraints may narrow the field of candidates from the private sector, which is where much of the digital and data transformation experience the specification asks for is found.

The Impartiality Line Reflects Who Has Been Leaving

The Commission invites candidates with industry experience and asks them to prove they can act impartially. This year the traffic has gone the other way: its chief executive went to an advisory firm that counsels operators, and its policy director set up a consultancy. No breach of any rule has been reported in either case. But a regulator whose former leaders now advise the sector it oversees has reason to be careful about the direction of the revolving door, and the specification shows that it is.

If the timetable holds, the final interview will come about 10 months after Gardner first stepped up, and a candidate serving notice elsewhere may not start until well into 2027. The Commission is not short of a direction; it has been short of a permanent leader to own it.