Director of Housing

HRJD.49  ISSUE  3

Job Description

Post Title:

Director of Housing

Accountable to:

CEO

Liaising  with:

Head  of Housing  Services,  Support  service
Managers,
tenancy  sustainment  officers
Support  workers,  Life  Helpline  Services,
fundraising  and  Legacy  Manager,
Trust
clients,  contractors,  supervisors,  surveyors,
local authorities,  property professionals.

Location:

Remote – National role with extensive travel
across the UK

Contract:

Full-time

Working Hours:

32 hrs per week.

Requirements:

Full driving license and own car

Benefits:

25 days holiday plus Bank holidays, Pension scheme, flexible
working arrangements, Access to an Employee benefits
platform.

Salary:

£47,750

About Life
Life is a national charity providing supported housing  and practical, emotional and life-skills
support to women who are pregnant and homeless or have a child up to the age of 2 and
homeless. We currently operate across 20 locations in England and Northern Ireland,
providing safe, nurturing, home-from-home accommodation where mothers and their babies
can thrive before moving into independent housing.

Main Purposes of the Job:

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HRJD.49  ISSUE  3

The Director of Housing will provide strategic and operational leadership  of Life’s supported
housing services nationally.
The postholder  will:

•  Develop and deliver a sustainable  growth and expansion strategy to meet increasing

client demand.

•  Ensure the Charity meets all regulatory, statutory, legal, financial and contractual

obligations.

•  Embed a culture of high-quality, tenant-centred housing  management aligned with
Housing Ombudsman expectations and Social Housing Consumer Standards.
•  Provide leadership  across housing management, maintenance, income recovery,

compliance, tenancy management and service improvement.

•  Contribute to corporate strategy and organisational  growth as a member of the Senior

Leadership  Team.

Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities
1. Strategic Leadership & Growth

•  Develop and implement a national  Housing Strategy aligned to the Charity’s overall

•

strategic objectives.
Identify and assess  new development and supported  housing opportunities,  including
partnerships  with local authorities  and commissioners.

•  Lead service expansion, ensuring  infrastructure, governance and operational capacity

support sustainable  growth.

•  Contribute to organisational  business  planning and financial forecasting.

2. Regulatory Compliance & Governance

•  Ensure compliance with all relevant housing  legislation  and regulation  including:

o  Social Housing (Regulation) Act
o  Housing Health & Safety Rating System (HHSRS)
o  Landlord and Tenant legislation
o  Safeguarding legislation
o  Health & Safety legislation
o  Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code

•  Ensure strong governance, risk management and internal  controls within the Housing

function.

•  Lead on housing-related  audits,  inspections and regulatory engagement.
•  Provide assurance to the CEO and Trustees regarding compliance, viability and risk.

3. Service Quality & Client Experience

•  Embed a client-centred approach in line with Housing Ombudsman principles of

fairness, transparency, accessibility and accountability.

•  Ensure effective complaints handling systems, learning from complaints and service

failure prevention.

•  Monitor client satisfaction, service standards and performance against KPIs.
•  Promote meaningful client engagement and feedback mechanisms.
•  Ensure properties are safe, warm, secure and maintained to a high standard.

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HRJD.49  ISSUE  3

4. Operational Leadership
•  Direct and oversee:

Income collection and arrears recovery

o  Housing management
o
o  Void management
o  Repairs, maintenance and major works
o  Compliance and health & safety management
o  Tenancy sustainment and enforcement

•  Ensure effective escalation and management of tenancy breaches, including

possession  proceedings  where necessary.

•  Oversee referral, assessment and allocation processes in partnership with Life’s

Helpline services.

•  Ensure safeguarding procedures are embedded across all housing services.

5. Financial Management & Value for Money

•  Oversee rental income, void control and arrears performance.
•  Ensure robust financial controls within housing  operations.
•  Secure and manage local authority funding, grants and improvement funding.
•  Deliver value for money while maintaining high service standards.
•  Contribute to annual budgets  and long-term financial planning.

6. Property & Asset Management

•  Ensure delivery of:

o  Responsive repairs
o  Planned and cyclical maintenance
o  Preventative maintenance
o  Major works programmes

•  Oversee contractor performance management alongside the estates team.
•  Ensure compliance with statutory safety requirements including gas, electrical, fire,

water hygiene and asbestos.

•  Maintain accurate property and compliance records.

7. Leadership & People Management

•  Provide strong, visible leadership across the Housing function.
•  Support and develop Head of Housing Services, Support Service Managers, Tenancy

sustainment officers and Support Workers.

•  Foster a culture of accountability, compassion and high performance.
•  Ensure teams understand and deliver against KPIs and performance standards.

8. Partnership & External Relations

•  Build and maintain effective relationships with:

o  Local authorities
o  Commissioners
o  Surveyors and property professionals
o  Contractors and maintenance providers
o  Funders and grant bodies

•  Represent Life at external meetings, forums and working groups.

9. Corporate Responsibilities

•  Prepare and present reports to Senior Leadership  Team and Trustees.
•  Contribute to organisational  risk registers and policy development.

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•  Ensure compliance with GDPR and Life’s Data Protection policies.
•
•  Undertake any additional duties  appropriate to the role.

Implement and champion Life’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policies.

HRJD.49  ISSUE  3

Safeguarding Children & Vulnerable Adults

 Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and all employees are required to act in such a way
that  at  all  times  safeguards  the  health  and  wellbeing  of  children  and  vulnerable  adults.
Familiarisation  with, and adherence to,  the appropriate  organisational  Safeguarding Policies
and any associated  guidance is an essential  requirement of all  employees as is participation
in related  mandatory/statutory training.  All employees must ensure that they understand  and
act in accordance with this clause. If you do not understand  exactly how this clause relates to
you personally then you must ensure that you seek clarification from your immediate manager
as a matter of urgency. Equally, all managers have a responsibility to ensure that  their team
members understand their individual responsibilities  with regard to Safeguarding Children and
Vulnerable Adults

Personal Responsibilities

The post holder must assume responsibility  for their own professional and personal
development (supported by Life where appropriate) to ensure their continuing competence to
deliver Life’s requirements

Corporate Behaviours:

All staff will be expected to:

•  Work with the charity’s aims and objectives, upholding  its vision and mission.
•  Demonstrate respect for others and value diversity
•  Act responsibly in regard to the health and safety of themselves and others
•  Focus on the service user and customer, both internally and externally, at all times
•  Make an active contribution to developing the service
•  Learn from, and share experience and knowledge
•  Keep others informed of issues of importance and relevance
•  Consciously review mistakes and successes to improve performance
•  Act as an ambassador for the Charity and maintain the highest professional  standards

at all times

•  Use  discretion  and  sensitivity  and  be  aware  of  issues  requiring  total  customer

confidentiality

•  Demonstrate a flexible approach to their work.
•  Abide  by and  take responsibility  for the  obtaining,  storage,  processing  and  sharing  of
any personal  data within the meaning of the General Data Protection Regulations 2018
and as defined in the relevant Life policies for all aspects of service delivery and working

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HRJD.49  ISSUE  3

practice, paying particular attention to the protection of personal information in any form
and by whatever means it is accessed by you.

This  job description  is not  necessarily an exhaustive list  of duties  but is  intended  to reflect a
range of duties the post holder will perform. The job description will be reviewed regularly and
may be changed in light of experience and/or organisational  requirements, and in consultation
with the post holder.

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HRJD.49  ISSUE  3

Post Title: Director of Housing

Personal skill characteristics

Essential (Tick)

Desirable (Tick)

Qualifications

CIH qualification (Level 5 or above) or equivalent
professional qualification.

Personal

Significant senior leadership  experience within supported
housing,  social housing  or homelessness  services.

Committed to the vision, mission and values of the charity.

In-depth knowledge of housing law, tenancy management
and regulatory compliance.
Strong understanding  of Housing Ombudsman Complaint
Handling Code and consumer standards.
Proven experience in strategic planning  and service
growth.

Self motivation and Resilience

Experience managing budgets and financial performance.

Experience overseeing repairs, maintenance and asset
management.
Strong understanding  of safeguarding and supported
housing provision.
Ability to analyse risk and implement effective governance
systems.
Excellent leadership, communication and stakeholder
management skills.

Full UK driving licence and access to own vehicle.

Experience working with vulnerable women or family
services.

Experience in charity or third sector leadership.

Experience securing funding or development partnerships.

Communication

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Communicates effectively and openly at all levels.

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HRJD.49  ISSUE  3

Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Strategic Ability / Innovation

Willingness  to contribute to the development of services.

Experience in delivering proven results.

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