DORSET County Council is to have its first ever female chief executive.

Director of adult and community services Debbie Ward will replace David Jenkins in the role when the current chief executive retires at the end of October.

The mother-of-two, who lives in Poole, joined the council in May 2010 from Reading Borough Council and was appointed following a rigorous two-day recruitment exercise.

She will earn a salary of between £140,000 and £155,000.

Mrs Ward has experience in working for unitary, district and London borough councils and has vowed to rise to the challenges facing the authority over the coming years.

She said: “I am so pleased to have this opportunity to take up the role of Chief Executive and I’m looking forward to working closely with David Jenkins in the transition period.

“I will take up the job with enthusiasm and a clear sense of responsibility for the leadership I will need to show as we rise to the significant challenges of the coming years.

“I am particularly looking forward to working with my colleagues, the many committed staff, partners, councillors and most importantly communities and people across this beautiful county of Dorset.”

In her new role Mrs Ward will manage an organisation with a budget of over £670million that employs 15,000 staff across Dorset.

Council leader Angus Campbell , who chaired the selection panel, welcomed the appointment of the new chief executive.

He said: “I am delighted that Debbie Ward is to be our next chief executive at Dorset County Council.

“Debbie came to us relatively recently to take over as director for adult and community services and has made huge strides in that area in times of increasing budgetary constraint.”

Mr Jenkins, who is due to retire having spent 13 years in the chief executive role, said he was confident Mrs Ward would prove a capable successor.

He said: “It has been a great privilege to have been chief executive in this very special county for the last 13 years.

“I am delighted to be passing on to Debbie Ward, who I know will do a great job of taking the council forward.”