THE largest employer in the north has failed to appoint its first permanent chief executive.
The Education Authority (EA) said no appointment was possible after a "rigorous" recruitment drive.
It means that the interim chief will remain in post.
The EA first launched the job competition in August last year to find someone to lead a "programme of transformation".
The competition was suspended two months later, however, after a selection panel took the view that there was "potentially an insufficient number of candidates whose applications demonstrated the standards required for this very demanding role".
The organisation has a budget of approximately £1.5 billion and is the largest employer in the north with close to 40,000 people, although most of these are teachers in the state-controlled sector.
The top job was described as "one of the most demanding chief executive appointments in Northern Ireland" and "one of the biggest educational leadership roles in the UK and Ireland".
It comes with a considerable public sector salary of up to £164,000 a year.
The EA replaced the five area education boards in April 2015. It was accepted as an alternative to the planned Education and Skills Authority after rival parties failed to agree its establishment.
It delivers and funds services including school meals, transport, support staff for classrooms and special educational needs.
Gavin Boyd, the former head of the CCEA exams board, has been in charge as interim chief executive since December 2014.
The EA re-launched its competition in June, but has halted it again without appointing a new chief.
A statement on its website reads: "Following completion of a rigorous recruitment and selection process, an appointment to the post of Education Authority chief executive has not been made. Chief executive Gavin Boyd remains in post supported by a well-established team of directors."
