Chief executive Jo Miller is standing down as Doncaster Council’s top boss

Chief executive Jo Miller has announced she is taking up a new job as the head of of Hutt City Council near Wellington, New Zealand. 

A panel of officers and councillors will decide Ms Miller’s replacement in the coming months. 

Ms Miller, who took over Doncaster Council on a permanent basis in Novemeber 2011, is set begin work in her new role in July in the city of Lower Hutt. 

Lower Hutt is a city in the Wellington region of the north island of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area.

It’s New Zealand's seventh most populous city, with a population of 105,900. 

The top boss was previously been deputy chief executive at Bradford Metropolitan Borough Council and a senior director at Knowsley Council. She has also been deputy chief executive of the Local Government Association and president of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE). 

Tributes have been paid to Ms Miller from mayor Ros Jones, the borough’s three MPs and Doncaster Chamber of Commerce boss Dan Fell. 

The Local Government Chronicle previously said Doncaster had been ‘dragged up from the depths of despair to something to be proud of’ in reference to her leadership.  

Ms Miller said: “This opportunity starts a new chapter in my public service career and I am looking forward to the challenge in a different country with a different set of challenges and opportunities.

“It goes without saying that I will miss Doncaster, Mayor Ros Jones, the leadership team, my council colleagues and partners in Doncaster and beyond.  It has been a privilege to lead and serve here. 

“Doncaster has achieved much in my seven years here.  I am proud of the grit, hard work and selfless service that everyone in the borough demonstrates. 

“That sense of shared endeavour, collaborative leadership and moral purpose with a desire to be the very best we can be for our place and people is very special. 

“Whilst I will always be a daughter of Liverpool, Doncaster and Yorkshire are now a part of me and I wish both the very best for the future, which I know is an exciting one.” 

Mayor Ros Jones said: “Jo is an exceptionally talented chief executive who leads with her head and her heart, driven to do the very best for all of our communities. 

“In Jo’s time at Doncaster she has helped shape us into a council that has high ambition for its residents and our future.”