Labour MPs have accused ministers of playing a “sick joke” after it emerged that a government job overseeing regeneration in Tees Valley will be based in London.

Sajid Javid’s Department for Communities and Local Government is advertising for a London-based project lead for Tees Valley’s Mayoral Development Corporation, a role it says “can include occasional trips to Tees Valley”.

The job description says the key focus of the role would be to “set the direction for, and deliver, a new Mayoral Development Corporation covering the former SSI [Redcar steelworks] site”.

The steelworks closed two years ago with the loss of 3,000 jobs, a devastating blow to a region that has suffered from decades of post-industrial decline.

Anna Turley, the Labour MP for Redcar, said: “This job will be a leading position overseeing the regeneration of the steelworks site. A big challenge that is crucial to bringing decent jobs to our area. Why on earth, then, is it based in London? With only occasional trips to Teesside?

“It’s a sick joke when this site, and thousands of jobs, could have been saved if central government ministers and civil servants had acted in the first place.”

Turley said there were many talented candidates for the role in the Tees Valley, and the decision undermined the government’s stated commitment to devolution.

She added: “It makes me mad that so few of these posts are based outside of London. The people working on this project need to be here on the ground, not hidden away in an office in Whitehall.

“So much for devolution. The Tees Valley mayor should immediately take this up with his colleagues in government.”

Mike Hill, the newly elected Labour MP for Hartlepool, said: “A job developing the Tees Valley should be based here, in the Tees Valley, with occasional trips to London, and not the other way round.

“This is typical of an attitude that suggests that only London can provide capable people for jobs such as these. It is shameful to find that Department for Communities and Local Government are perpetuating this fallacy. Isn’t ‘local government’ part of their title?”

But the criticism provoked a strong response from Ben Houchen, the Conservative mayor of Tees Valley, who was elected in May in what he described as a “political earthquake” in Labour’s heartlands.

He accused Turley of being “out of touch” with his office’s plans for the SSI site and of trying to “jump on” a job advertisement for political gain.

Houchen said: “This not a local appointment. This is a civil service position advertised by the Department for Communities and Local Government. I will always welcome additional dedicated staff in the heart of government working to transform the former SSI steelworks site.

“The government is throwing more time, money and resources on the most significant economic opportunity for Redcar in decades. This follows a number of secondments from government, where they have already sent full-time staff to the Tees Valley to focus exclusively on this project. This is in addition to our own plans to recruit local staff internally, within the Mayoral Development Corporation.

“It’s extremely concerning that the Kent-born MP for Redcar is trying to jump on the wording of a standard civil service job advert. It is even more worrying that she is so ignorant of the facts on the ground. It must be a real concern to the people of Redcar that their MP is so out of touch on our exciting plans for the old SSI site.”

A Department for Communities and Local Government spokesman said: “This government is committed to delivering economic regeneration in the Tees Valley and we have been working closely with local partners on plans for the former SSI site.

“Our new project lead for the Mayoral Development Corporation will be a crucial link between Whitehall and our existing team in the region, who are working closely with the new mayor of Tees Valley, Ben Houchen, and his office.”

Andrew Gwynne, the shadow communities and local government secretary, described the advertisement as an “insult to people in the north-east from a staggeringly out-of-touch government”.

He added: “The department charged with turning the ‘northern powerhouse’ from an empty slogan into a reality already has 97% of its senior civil servants living in London. How can someone deliver devolution for the Tees Valley when they are working 240 miles away in London?

“From axing rail electrification across the north to closing government offices in Sheffield and moving staff to London, the Tories are showing that the northern powerhouse is nothing more than an empty slogan.”

Andy McDonald, the MP for Middlesbrough, said it was “utter nonsense” and beggared belief that the £58,000-a-year job – which is described as a “minimum three days a week” role – would be based 250 miles away in London. He said it showed the “callous indifference” ministers had towards devolution and the north of England, and he criticised Houchen’s response to the row.

“This is an entirely inappropriate response to the regeneration of the Tees Valley, which surely needs to be steered from this locality,” McDonald said.

Alex Cunningham, the Labour MP for Stockton North, said: “This job requires a deep understanding of the needs of our region and it beggars belief that the mayor thinks it can be achieved with the occasional visit. We can do without another London-based ‘expert’ dictating our needs.”