after a brief call, interview was set up with H/O finance alongside colleagues with a vested interest in the role. I gave clear, concise answers with evidence on how my 20+ year career and professional qualifications (MBA, MCIPS, CMGR) aligned with their expectations, I was also acting in a more senior capacity and had significant experience of managing much larger teams, budgets and stakeholders. My interest in the role was I am a Powys resident, have held very senior positions and wanted to contribute to my home (the pay was some 50% lower than current salary). Despite very positive feedback in the interview, I received the following feedback; "While we appreciated your interest and the experience you bring, the panel felt that there were gaps in your knowledge and experience specifically relating to local government operations and the nature of the goods and services we commission and procure." I offered the following feedback; "I do appreciate the feedback, and from my perspective I thought the exact reasons for being not considered would be the same reasons for why I'd be a success - bringing innovation from industry, disruption to the existing landscape and (hopefully) real change." Not surprisingly, nobody ever got back to me. Now for the irony; They have not been able to fill the role and I have been contacted by agencies to see if I'd be willing to do the role on an interim basis on a much higher pay scale! No thanks - it's clear that the leadership team really don't understand that their systems are broken and there needs to be wholesale changes to get back on track, this just doesn't seem to be within their scope - maybe it's the people at the top that need changing!