You will lead a sustainable, supportive, and effective housing support service for Octavia residents, aligning with the organization’s vision. Managing a small team, this hands-on role involves home visits, inspections, resident engagement, assessments, and contractor site visits. You will drive partnerships internally and externally to ensure residents live in homes suited to their needs while overseeing the adapted properties and adaptations program.
With a focus on delivering excellent service within KPIs, you will ensure compliance with Local Authority standards, enhance service delivery, and manage contracts efficiently, demonstrating value for money. Strong property, building, and contract knowledge, along with expertise in complaint resolution, are essential for success in this role.
Key Responsibilities
Management
* Manage a small team to deliver a sustainable, supportive, and effective end to end Housing Support Service including adaptations, gardening and handywork services to a diverse range of customers to help deliver Octavia’s vision
* Ensures effective staff and performance management so that all staff meet operational performance and behavioural expectations whilst maintaining high morale and teams who thrive with tailored personal development, and who are proud advocates for our customer
* Work as part of the housing services management team to deliver a responsive, respectful, reliable and resourceful end to end service to a diverse range of residents to help deliver Octavia’s vision
* Produce management information and reports as required that demonstrate activity and impact
* Achieve defined customer measures and performance metrics in several areas, including all customer contact, hoarding, safeguarding, domestic abuse, ASB, complaints and impact measures
Service Delivery
* To identify and understand the support needs of our vulnerable customers via assessment, signpost to appropriate services, manage complex safeguarding and complex cases and deliver housing related support services including adaptations, handyperson, gardening that enables older and vulnerable residents to sustain their tenancy and live as independently as they can at home
* Work closely with colleagues and external statutory and voluntary agencies, including development, OT, specialist surveyors, Adult Social Care and Health services to ensure creative and co-ordinated approach to enable residents to remain in the home
* Manage contracts with contractors to address issues including quality, value for money, performance and service user satisfaction
* To effectively manage performance standards and achieve agreed targets and in keeping with any contracts or service level agreements respond to under performance
* Ensure performance information is reported back to the board on a monthly basis
* To ensure services are accountable, user friendly and provide value for money and respond to, and incorporate learning, from complaints and incidents
* Lead on complaint handling and ombudsman enquires ensuring outcomes are shared and learning implemented
* To ensure that all cases, contact and outcomes are recorded on IT systems including CRM and demonstrate the impact of the service in the agreed way and use this information to produce reports and monitoring returns as required
* To ensure the team engage with residents and they are kept up to date on the progress of their case, ensuring sensitive information is handled in an appropriate manner
* Leads and/or contributes to Team and Departmental work plans, policy and service reviews, corporate strategies, and projects through preparation of reports and positive participation in working groups, project boards and other corporate activities
* Achieve defined customer measures and performance metrics
* Working in partnership to develop a culture of data and insight – leading continuous improvement, communicating and refining our case management approach for all activities. Using data to drive decision making and inform process changes as a result
* Producing detailed, meaningful, and informative performance reports for key stakeholders on the performance of the Housing Support Team
Ensure Financial Viability
* Monitor the continued financial viability of all housing support services and take action to deal with concerns as appropriate. Ensure all income is secured before committing to works and maximise income
* Develop, agree, monitor and deliver the annual budget for designated activities
* Assess and approve the financial viability of new partners
* Deliver the VFM project work as identified in the VFM plan for designated projects
Corporate Management
* Championing our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion work and ensure service delivery is consistent with Octavia’s EDI objectives
* Actively promote safeguarding, health, security and safety across all housing services activities and ensure compliance across working practices and service delivery
* Attend meetings (including evenings or weekends) i.e. service planning meetings, home or site visits and conference meetings with external agencies, representing Octavia, demonstrating professionalism and our core values, in terms of approach, advice and positioning
Requirements
For this position, we have listed the requirements we believe are essential for this role:
Experience
* Experience of supervising staff performance and delivering departmental objectives
* Experience of co-ordinating services dealing with the needs of vulnerable residents within budget and handling complex cases
* Experience of handling safeguarding cases
* Understanding and experience of adaptations/repairs management including an understanding of health and safety, fire safety and other property standards legislation
* Experience of utilising IT (including Microsoft Office) in multi locations
* Experience of writing reports with complex information to a variety of audiences
* Demonstrable ability to make informed decisions when assisting and supporting officers in dealing with complex or challenging cases
Knowledge
* Understanding of the needs of vulnerable older people, and those with complex needs including physical and/or mental health, learning disabilities, and/or chaotic lifestyles
* Awareness of housing management law and practice, health and safety, housing transfers, repairs and adaptations
* Knowledge of managing customer contact via a CRM system and online communication channels
Qualifications / Skills
* A passion for the continuous improvement of Customer Experience
* Demonstrable leadership learning and skills with the ability to motivate & develop staff to deliver consistent success
* Professional qualification in housing practice and law or equivalent at level 5 (Degree level) or above or working towards achieving this
* Excellent verbal & written communication skills and ability to influence at different levels
* Excellent organisational & planning skills
* Commitment to involving & working in partnership with service users & residents, offering real choice in the way services are delivered to them
Benefits
The salary for this role is £48,073 per annum with up to 10% pension contribution.
We also offer a fantastic additional benefits:
* Flexible-working
* Life Assurance
* Employee Wellbeing App/ Mental Health Support
* Online GP Service
* Cycle to work
* Opportunities for self-development with over 60 courses available to self-enrol
* Opportunities to volunteer in our Charity Retail Stores or on our Befriending Programme
Together, we continue to build an inclusive culture that encourages, supports and celebrates the diverse voices of our employees. Everyone is welcome.
Early application is encouraged as we will review applications throughout the advertising period and reserve the right to close the advert early.