Head of Housing Management and Neighbourhood (16200)

Head of Housing Management and Neighbourhoods

We’re looking for a proven leader to join Southampton City Council as the Head of Housing Management and Neighbourhoods. This is a rare opportunity to shape the future of a large and ambitious housing service - turning recovery into long-term improvement. You’ll play a pivotal role in shaping services to deliver for residents every day and ensuring Housing works as a coherent, learning system.

About the team

We’re part of the Council’s Residents’ Services Directorate, which brings together housing, customer services and community support around a shared purpose: to make sure every resident has access to a safe, affordable and sustainable home, and to strengthen the communities that make Southampton a city of opportunity.

The Housing Management and Neighbourhoods team plays a crucial delivery role within Housing’s new commissioning model - managing homes, tenancies and neighbourhoods across the city to meet agreed demand and standards. Working closely with colleagues in Strategy, Insight & Performance, Quality Homes and Housing Works, the team ensures that customer needs are clearly understood, work is prioritised effectively and delivered efficiently across the whole housing system.

About the role

In August 2024, the Regulator for Social Housing identified serious failings in how we met the consumer standards. That judgement has been a turning point - and we’re now using it to drive lasting improvements for tenants, residents and communities. Our ambition is to rebuild confidence and deliver real, sustained change that improves the quality of homes and the lives of people who live in them.

As Head of Housing Management and Neighbourhoods, you’ll be a key member of the Housing Directorate Senior Leadership Team, responsible for delivering good-quality, compliant and value-for-money services that give customers, the Council and the Regulator confidence that housing is under control and improving - and that housing works as a joined-up system.

You’ll set clear objectives and priorities, delegate delivery to managers and teams, hold them to account, and step in where needed to unblock issues. You’ll make sure your teams understand what’s expected, are supported, and are both empowered and equipped to deliver.

You’ll look ahead - building strategies and plans to respond to change, embrace opportunities and manage risk. You’ll use evidence, data and customer insight to make informed decisions and expect your teams to do the same. You’ll lead through the Housing Drumbeat - making sure governance drives improvement, not just reporting - using your perspective as an SLT member to stay on top of delivery, manage risk and drive learning and improvement.

You’ll also play a central part in ensuring Housing maximises the impact of its resources - aligning people, budgets and delivery capacity to where they make the biggest difference for customers and residents.

Success will depend on working with others - across Housing, the wider Council and partner organisations - to deliver impact that matters for residents. Together with the other Heads of Service, you’ll help make Housing work as one coherent, learning system that connects commissioning with delivery. You’ll lead teams to keep daily performance on track while driving deeper change - co-designing new ways of working, digital tools, integrated structures and a customer-centred culture that supports the long-term realisation of Southampton’s housing strategy and wider city vision.

Everything you do will contribute to Southampton’s vision to be a city of opportunity where everyone thrives through more equal, healthier, safer, growing and greener communities.

Key responsibilities include:

• Deliver high-quality services across Housing Management and Neighbourhoods that comply with regulatory standards, meet budgetary constraints and add value for tenants.
• You will build relationships and collaborate with leaders across the Council, other public sector bodies and tenants to scan the horizon, agree priorities and mutual strategy.
• Drive transformation and service improvement through strategic planning, innovation, and performance management. You will play a key part in changing culture to empower staff to innovate, learn and improve outcomes, reducing siloed working and top-down firefighting
• Making sure services are safe, legally compliant and delivered with professionalism. And always ensure that the needs of tenants and residents guide priorities, design and delivery.

For further information about this role please view the job description.

About you:

We’re looking for an experienced and inspiring leader to shape and deliver modern, efficient services that meet the needs of our tenants and communities.

You will need:

• A Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) qualification Level 5 or above, or equivalent demonstrable knowledge and experience
• Degree-level education and/or management/leadership qualification, or equivalent senior leadership experience
• Evidence of continuing professional development in Housing, leadership & safeguarding
• Strong skills in strategic planning, performance improvement, and contract management.
• The ability to lead diverse teams, influence key stakeholders, and drive innovation.

Join us in delivering essential services and building a sustainable Southampton for all.

For further information about this role, please view the job description.

What we can offer you:

Salary: The salary band for this role is £83,643 -  £91,823. The starting salary is £83,643 with annual progression through the salary bands.  

Here at SCC we have a range of different benefits, a few examples can be found below.

• Excellent local government pension with 16.8% employer contribution
• Death in service benefit of x3 salary, and optional salary sacrifice shared cost AVC (additional voluntary contribution)
• Generous holiday 25–31 days, based on role and service
• Flexible working options (role-dependent)
• Family-friendly policies - Maternity, Paternity, Adoption, Shared/Unpaid Parental Leave, Time off for Dependents
• Training and development, including coaching and mentoring
• Health and wellbeing support - Employee Assistance Programme, Menopause Pledge, Mental Health First Aiders and access to a variety of staff networks
• Veteran-friendly employer with the Armed Forces Covenant
• Retail discounts and savings through the Southampton City Council benefits platform
• Discounted memberships at local sports and fitness centres
• Sustainable travel benefits - low emission car scheme, cycle to work, season ticket loans
• Employee volunteering scheme with 2 paid days leave to volunteer

For further information on our benefits package, please visit: Employee benefits (southampton.gov.uk)

If you feel you have the necessary background, experience, and skills to undertake this role we would like to hear from you.

Contact information

Southampton City Council

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