The UKAD Board has a membership of seven, which is made up of the chair and six Board members appointed on a skills basis by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

The search for the new chair is part of a phased recruitment process for positions on the UKAD Board, as serving Board members’ terms come to an end.

"The Board plays a pivotal role in maintaining a strong and robust governance structure and driving the strategic objectives of the organisation," said Kenworthy.

"This is an exciting opportunity for the right candidate to lead UKAD at a time when anti-doping is under the spotlight."

Last month, Kenworthy used his last performance report as chair of UKAD to deliver a strongly-worded warning about the consequences for sport of sub-standard governance.

"Finding the odd flawed athlete is the norm but finding that whole systems are corrupt and that governance of sport is woefully inadequate and also possibly corrupt threatens the wholesome face of all sport," he said.

UKAD has come under fire itself recently, being strongly criticised in an independent report last month for its failure to alert the General Medical Council about allegations that a Harley Street doctor had helped more than 150 sportspeople take performance enhancing drugs.

This followed reports in April that Dr Mark Bonar had worked with "clients" including an England cricketer, British Tour de France cyclists, a British boxing champion, tennis players and martial arts competitors, as well as footballers from Premier League clubs Arsenal, Chelsea and Leicester City.

In his report, Kenworthy notes that chief executive Nicole Sapstead, who was appointed to her role in February 2015, has "successfully endured a baptism of fire" with the support of "a very capable team of directors that was reduced in size to allow smarter working and to reduce overheads".

In March, DCMS announced the appointment of Pippa Britton, Trevor Pearce and Sarah Winckless as non-executive directors, following the retirement of Philip Carling, Michael Brace and Andy Sellers in March, April and June respectively.

DCMS also confirmed this month that Professor John Brewer, Janice Shardlow and Justin Turner QC have had their terms extended by six months to allow sufficient time to recruit new members.

Shardlow and Turner are due to conclude their terms on the UKAD Board on May 21, 2017, while Brewer’s term will now finish on June 22, 2017.

UKAD is responsible for ensuring sports bodies in the UK are compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code through implementation and management of the UK’s National Anti-Doping Policy.

Its functions include an education and information programme, athlete testing across more than 40 Olympic, Paralympic and professional sports, intelligence management and exclusive results management authority for the determination of anti-doping rule violations.

Kenworthy was appointed as chair of UKAD in July 2009 having been a member of the National Anti-Doping Organisation (NADO) Project Board that helped shape plans and establish the organisation. 

In March 2013, he was elected as chair of the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organisations (iNADO), a body representing NADOs from around the world.