• A leader who enjoys managing competent staff – people who can think for themselves, like being given responsibility and thrive on the support and encouragement which he has given them. He also has the experience to deal appropriately with under-performers often resolving issues by moving individuals by agreement to more suitable roles
• A communicator and strategic thinker, used to giving presentations to a wide range of audiences and reporting at board level. He is quick to make connections between different issues and skilled at bringing partners together and articulating shared priorities
• A team player, who recognises the importance of taking responsibility and consulting colleagues and line managers to ensure the team is working in a shared direction
• A listener, who recognises that front line staff and clients often experience services differently from what was intended by policy makers – and that we need to find this out through dialogue with them to shape reform and achieve the best results.
• A governance expert, with experience in Welsh Government, a charity and several local authorities including twice as statutory Monitoring Officer, responsible for ensuring that all council actions were lawful and fair, promoting good governance and high ethical standards. He understands and can advise on complex constitutional issues.

Tal’s diverse roles mean he has experience of similar issues from different angles:

• As a Welsh Government Special Adviser, liaising with local authorities over policies and implementation – having previously been a councillor and then council chief officer
• Managing grant programmes on behalf of a local authority – and then as a charity chief executive applying for and managing grants
• As a charity chief executive working with his own team and with other chief executives to develop joint solutions to the problems faced by clients in our area – and seconded to the national organisation to ensure that the quality framework for the network and mechanisms for representation and decision-making are fit for purpose
• As chief executive of a non-devolved public service (policing) whose principal partners were all devolved, developing a good working relationship with Welsh Ministers and civil servants as well as other agencies – and subsequently advising Welsh Ministers on options for governance reform for both police and fire and rescue services.

Tal has significant experience of scrutiny, performance management and community engagement. He understands how to make the scrutiny process positive and rewarding, by using it as an opportunity to review existing services and approaches and propose alternatives. He led on performance management for several public bodies and a charity, including creating and embedding a performance management culture in what had been the worst performing authority in the country (Hackney Council) and secured quantifiable success in reconnecting the council with its communities.

Tal is ready for the next challenge and prepared to work away from home, having spent September 2025 – May 2026 working away from his North Wales home in Cardiff (role ended with the change in Welsh Government following the Senedd elections).

To download detailed CV as a PDF click here