Advertising Standards Authority

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the UK’s independent regulator overseeing advertising across all media, including social media. It underwrites the consumer’s trust in advertising messages being legal, decent, honest, and truthful. It is this trust that helps to make the UK advertising market one of the most successful and dynamic in the world.

The ASA is in a process of ongoing dynamic evolution: implementing the first year of the new 2024-2028 strategy: AI-assisted, collective ad regulation, to deal with the challenges posed by regulating online advertisements at pace and scale. In recent years, ASA has rebalanced regulation away from reactive complaints casework towards proactive, tech-assisted intelligence-gathering, complaint handling, monitoring and enforcement.

The ASA is governed by a 12-person Council, which acts as jury in deciding whether ads have breached the advertising codes. Two-thirds of the members of the Council (including its Chair) are independent of the advertising industry and offer a range of skills and experiences, representing the perspectives of a wide cross section of society.  The ASA seeks an independent Chair with strong leadership skills capable of ensuring that the Council is an effective and cohesive body, capable of leading and overseeing a key national organisation operating in a high-profile industry. The Chair is responsible for leading the Council so that it provides the right degree of constructive challenge, strategic insight, and support to the ASA management team, enabling the ASA to continue being a highly effective, proactive, and respected organisation.

The Chair of the ASA will be an individual of stature with a record of achievement in UK public life. They will be capable of commanding the confidence and respect of the advertising industry while being demonstrably independent of it. The right candidate is likely to be an experienced Chair, with an ability to lead the board of a major national body. They will be capable of operating at the highest levels of government on a cross- party basis and to command respect from a wide range of senior stakeholders including regulators and politicians. They will be aware of the changes that digital technology are making to the industry and keenly aware of how the ASA can use that technology, particularly AI, to remain world leading.

Saxton Bampfylde Ltd is acting as an employment agency advisor to the ASA on this appointment. For further information about the role, including details about how to apply, please visit www.saxbam.com/appointments using reference QBNAA. Alternatively telephone +44 (0)20 7227 0880 (during office hours). Applications should be received by noon on Friday 22^nd March 2024.