The new £140,000-a-year chief executive of Norwich City Council is due to start in the new year, after councillors backed his appointment.
Stephen Evans, currently director of communities at the Royal Borough of Kingston in London, will succeed the departing Laura McGillivray in the top officer role at City Hall.
Mr Evans's appointment was unanimously agreed by councillors at an extraordinary meeting of the city council on Tuesday night.
The job was advertised with a salary of just short of £140,000.
Mr Evans, who already lives in Norwich, worked at Her Majesty's Treasury for nine years and spent six years in roles at Barnet Council.
During his time at the Treasury, Mr Evans played a role in three Whitehall spending reviews as well providing policy advice on the Chancellor's annual budget statements.
While at Barnet, he held a number of roles including chief operating officer and director of strategy, communications and customer services.
Alan Waters, leader of Norwich City Council said it had been a rigorous recruitment process.
He said: "It was, as it should be, an exhaustive process.
"The council has a high reputation and we had a high quality field.
"We started with 13 candidates, which became a long-list of eight."
That was reduced to a short-list of five, who were considered by the cross-party selection panel.
Mr Waters said:"We kept in mind what we thought the council needed in a new chief executive and I think we have picked a very strong candidate to take us forward."
Ms McGillivray, who joined the council in 2006, will step down from her role next month, with deputy chief executive Nikki Rotsos serving as interim until Mr Evans arrives in January.
Mr Waters said of Mrs McGillivray: "She leaves the city council in a strong position, at a time when local government is under considerable pressure from funding cuts and when meeting the needs of our citizens has never been more challenging."
Martin Schmierer, leader of the Green group at City Hall, said welcomed the appointment,
But he added: "His role is not going to be easy. The challenges he will face are not going to be insignificant."
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