Dorset Council is advertising for a new Chief Executive paying up to £200,000 a year.
The post also comes with up to £8,000, tax free, for moving costs and an ‘initial advance’ of £2,500 when the new appointee starts work.
There is also an option to receive help towards rent or mortgage in the first two years.
The current Chief Executive, Matt Prosser, is moving to New Zealand later in the year after being appointed as the new CEO at Wellington City Council.
He leaves Dorset as the authority faces one of its most challenging budgets yet and the prospect of reorganisation at the council, which could see hundreds of job losses.
Both come within months of the Liberal Democrats taking control from the previous Conservative administration at the May 2024 elections.
Lib Dem leader of the council, Nick Ireland, says the new Chief Executive should be “personable and open” to “rally the troops and provide leadership to give the best for residents”.