East Suffolk Council, Lowestoft NR33 0EQ or Melton, Suffolk, IP12 1RT £47,754 - £51,802 (Band 9) 37 hours per week Fixed term (1 year) East Suffolk Council is an exciting place to work, delivering essential local services and making a real difference to a quarter of a million people across East Suffolk. We currently have an opportunity to join East Suffolk Council's Housing Needs team as an Operational Lead – Housing Needs. Your role: The main purpose of this role is to oversee and support the Strategic Lead – Housing Needs by offering the provision of excellence across the Housing Needs Service. You will facilitate joined up working across the Council and develop staff that are visible and accessible and who have a positive, customer-focused attitude. You will deliver operational and line management support to Senior Officers as well as offering comprehensive housing advice and homelessness services, with an impartial and practical approach to ensure the Council meets its statutory responsibilities. You will act as an ambassador for East Suffolk Council, and work in partnership with external colleagues, and other agencies to constantly improve services, and ensure that opportunities for engagement and involvement in the service area are maximised and to effectively maximise income in the relevant areas of the service What you will need: You will have minimum of 3 years’ experience in managing customer facing housing needs services and a clear understanding of the legislation and best practice governing the provision of housing advice, homelessness and allocations services. The ability to demonstrate your commitment to service and the Council’s values as well as provide leadership to their services, ensuring they are efficiently and effectively delivered and be accountable for budgets and teams is crucial. Having an education to degree level in a related field or equivalent experience is essential alongside a membership of the CIH. Why work for us? East Suffolk Council is a great place to work and there are lots of benefits our employees can access. To find out more about why we are so proud of East Suffolk Council, take a look at our video and hear why our employees think it is such a great place to work (YouTube). Here are some of the main benefits: Generous leave entitlement (equivalent to 25 days a year, increasing to 31 days after 5 years’ service, plus bank holidays) Local government pension scheme Flexible working arrangements Learning and development tailored to your role A wide variety of staff support networks including access to health and wellbeing initiatives and programmes. Discounts on mobile phones, computers, holiday and travel, fashion and clothing, health and beauty and many other products and services. Find more information about what we offer in our benefits brochure (pdf). The majority of our teams are working in an agile way, with a mixture of home and office working, depending on individual preferences and service requirements. If you wish to discuss how that might impact your working arrangements if you were the successful candidate, please contact the recruiting manager listed at the bottom of this advert. For more information For an informal discussion regarding this post, please contact Fern Lincoln on Fern.Lincolneastsuffolk.gov.uk Closing date: 24 February 2025 Interview date: 10 March 2025 How to apply Step 1 - Read the advert and the Job Description and Person Specification. Step 2 - Complete the Supporting Statement template (docx). Your statement needs to indicate how you meet each of the criteria contained within the Person Specification. Please use the template provided (other formats will not be accepted). Step 3 - Complete the online application and upload your statement. Please note, CVs are not accepted. For more information, check out the How to Apply section of our Career Site (URL). East Suffolk Council is an exciting place to work and a great place to make a real difference to people’s lives, delivering vital services to a quarter of a million people across East Suffolk. We hugely value our staff and know that in order for us to remain successful, it is essential for us to recognise talented employees, developing and retaining them within the organisation. We are therefore committed to investing in our staff and providing first-class support to ensure a positive culture and rewarding careers. To find out more about why we are so proud of East Suffolk Council and to hear why our employees think it is such a great place to work, take a look at our video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?vTSWedQksWt0