Former Cabinet Secretary Lord O’Donnell has described the position of the UK’s top civil servant as “massively underpaid.” Lord O’Donnell, who is helping recruit a replacement for the role after Simon Case stepped down due to health reasons, said the £200,000-a-year salary does not reflect the demands of the job.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s “he Westminster Hour”, O’Donnell, who served as cabinet secretary from 2005 to 2011, called it an “incredibly demanding job” that deserves a higher salary. The cabinet secretary advises the prime minister, oversees government policy implementation, and manages senior civil servants.

“It’s massively underpaid in my view—I’ve been paid a lot more since, to do a lot less,” O’Donnell said. He noted that civil servant pay is determined by the government, following recommendations from the independent Review Body on Senior Salaries (SSRB).

Lord O’Donnell held the role under three prime ministers: Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, and David Cameron. Recruitment is underway to find a successor for Simon Case, who is stepping down by the end of the year due to a “neurological condition.”

O’Donnell also highlighted the importance of the new cabinet secretary building a strong relationship with the prime minister’s chief of staff, Sue Gray. “Sue knows the civil service backwards. That should be one of the easiest parts of the job,” he said.

Gray, a former senior civil servant, sparked controversy over her own salary in September, which was revealed to be £170,000—more than the prime minister’s £166,786.