Rob Whiteman
Chief Executive
Rob Whiteman joined Barking and Dagenham as chief executive in January 2005.
An accountant by background, he held several local government finance advisory roles for the Local Government Association and Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA).
Rob is passionate about public services being of the very highest quality and optimal cost; and at Barking and Dagenham has built effective partnerships in order to use the local area agreement and the local strategic partnerships to build capacity in the community so that the residents benefit from regeneration opportunities such as London 2012 and Thames Gateway.
Rob has also set challenging targets for service improvements so that the council is assessed as excellent (4 star) by 2008 and since he joined the council it has been upgraded from 2 stars to 3 stars and upgraded in 5 of the 8 Comprehensive Performance Assessment blocks.
Rob is a well known commentator and writer on public service reform and modernisation on a wide range of areas such as leadership and partnership working across local and central government. In 2007 Rob was part of the Capability Review team of the Department of Health.
Graduating with a BA (Hons) in Economics and Government from the University of Essex, Rob started his management career at WH Smith plc before moving into the public sector.
A period at London Borough of Camden's Finance Department was followed at London Borough of Lewisham as Deputy Chief Executive, where Rob promoted new models of engagement such as the borough's groundbreaking young Mayor project as well as integrated public services through One Stop Shops.
In his spare time Rob has carried out many public duties such as a JP, school governor and assisting local charities. He lives in the neighbouring borough of Newham with his partner and 3 teenage children.
