Head of Housing Solutions (Internal Applicants Only)
Do you have what it takes to lead and transform how we deliver homelessness services and housing solutions at North Northamptonshire Council and be our new Head of Housing Solutions?
This is an excellent opportunity to be part of a new chapter for Housing Services at North Northamptonshire Council and help continue to shape the future of the council. A council with a passion for driving positive change and delivering excellence; a community with a rich heritage, a diverse population, and a distinct identity.
We are looking for an exceptional candidate to be part of our exciting leadership team, to lead the prevention and reduction of homelessness in one of Northamptonshire’s most vibrant unitary authorities.
This new Head of Service role is the strategic and operational lead officer reporting directly to the Assistant Director for Strategic Housing, Development and Property Services. Working with the Assistant Director of Strategic Housing, Development and Property Services, to drive and deliver a proactive, dynamic, agile, customer-first, high-performance, value-for-money, seamless and inclusive homelessness and housing solutions service. That has high levels of customer satisfaction and engagement, ensuring a caring service culture that supports the needs of service users.
You will be responsible for leading the council homeless and housing solutions services, including temporary accommodation and rough sleeper prevention. Leading on delivering our Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy, supported by a dedicated and passionate team. Ensuring we comply and meet the standards of the Regulator for Social Housing, and keep our residents safe, engaged and involved and able to influence services and decisions that affect them.
You’ll be managing a team of approximately 85 staff, driving solutions to improve homeless services provision, all against a backdrop of rising temporary accommodation numbers and increasing frontline demand.
Your role will encompass:
• Overseeing key services such as homelessness assessments, housing advice and housing options, lettings and allocations, rough sleeping initiatives, and the procurement of temporary accommodation and private rented sector properties.
• Managing significant budgets and programmes, and having responsibility for bids and grant funding, ensuring financial efficiency while driving cultural and operational change.
• Ensuring all our service users receive a proactive, tailored and excellent service that complies with the councils strategic and operational objectives and statutory responsibilities.
As the Head of Service for Housing Solutions, you will be accountable for the successful delivery of all day-to-day functions provided by the service.
What will you be doing?
You will be responsible for:
• Oversight for the strategic and operational management of the council’s Keyways housing allocations service, rough sleeping, housing options, homeless assessments, temporary accommodation, and homeless support services.
• The housing solutions teams identify, prioritise and assist vulnerable groups and those requiring temporary accommodation.
• Strategic oversight and accountability for the operational, customer experience and financial performance of all North Northamptonshire Council’s Housing Keyways Allocations, Rough Sleeping, Housing Options, Temporary Accommodation, Homeless Support Services.
• Clear oversight, governance and management of any General Fund, capital projects and Grant Funding to improve or develop housing prevention and advice services for the council.
• Ensuring the council achieves its statutory duties in relation to homeless advice relief and prevention, including compliance with its duties under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996, and the Homelessness Reduction Act 2018.
• Formulating the Council’s key homelessness strategies, including the Homelessness and Rough Sleeper Strategy, Temporary Accommodation Reduction Plan, to prevent and reduce homelessness and develop homeless reduction initiatives.
• Development and implementation of relevant plans and strategies to transform the Council’s housing solutions service.
• Effective partnership working across the Council and with external stakeholders to deliver best-in-sector services, including working with Homelink, DHLUC, private sector partners, voluntary agencies and other registered providers to reduce and prevent homelessness.
• Correct monitoring and management of budgets, performance and risks related to the service, including accurate estimating, forecasting and out-turns against agreed budgets.
• Activation of the Severe Weather Activation Protocol (SWEP), and maintain and implement the homeless services business continuity plans and emergency response to support the delivery of uninterrupted services and the Council’s role within the Local Resilience Forum.
• Providing a high standard of customer service and community liaison to the Council’s elected Members, MPs, Parish and Town Councils and residents in accordance with corporate requirements.
• Leading the team in adopting a proactive and constructive approach to engaging positively with local Members, communities, and residents to address their concerns and issues.
About you
What will you bring to the role:
Passion, Resilience, Innovation, Drive and Energy – with a commitment to Working Together to Achieve Success.
You will have a successful background of achievement and relevant experience at a senior management level in an appropriate, related work area, reflecting a corporate and strategic approach in a diverse service environment.
You will have previous experience of developing services at a strategic level and in turning concepts into operational plans with a comprehensive understanding of how the service will reflect local and national agendas relating to the delivery of a safe, effective, and sustainable homelessness and housing solutions.
You will be an excellent communicator, with interpersonal skills for both conceptual and factual matters to a wide audience, with the ability to listen to the views of others and use effective influencing/negotiation techniques to achieve a positive outcome.
If you are looking to further your career in a large complex organisation that can provide you with a range of career experience, then we would love to welcome you to our friendly team.
We currently work in a hybrid way, so there are opportunities to balance great face-to-face service, with the flexibility to work remotely.
Why choose us?
We offer a vibrant working environment with:
* a pension scheme, where we pay a significant contribution on top of your contribution. It provides life cover and ill-health protection.
* lots of opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and potential in a large unitary council.
* generous leave entitlement (28 days, rising to 33 days) and bank holidays, plus the option to buy up to an extra 10 days.
* hybrid and flexible working arrangements, where practicable for service needs to help you with a healthy work-life balance.
We provide a range of great benefits such as an Employee Assistance Programme, an Employee Benefits Scheme, wellbeing support, travel rates at HMRC rates, as well as supporting a range of active Employee Network Groups.
About us
Our Values and Behaviours
Our values define who we are and how we operate, by forming the foundation for how we interact with our customers, colleagues and provide our services. They are also at the forefront of our decision making and delivery and are:
Customer-focused
Respectful
Efficient
Supportive
Trustworthy
Our Key Commitments
Our key commitments help ensure that the priorities we make, now and in the future, maintain the necessary breadth of focus in those areas that we believe matter most.
We are proud to be a recognised Disability Confident Employer and are committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role.
North Northamptonshire Council re-signed the Armed Forces Covenant in June 2024 which highlights the Council’s pledge to support the Armed Forces community. The council obtained the silver status award for the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) and we are now currently working towards achieving Gold status.
We aim to be a carbon neutral Council by 2030.
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