Salary: £98,592 to £108,853
Manchester is a global city, the pulsing heart of a growing and confident North of England. We have an international reputation and a significant national profile. We bring balance to the UK’s economy, political narrative and wider social debate. Our vision is of a thriving Manchester for all our people and businesses, where everyone has access to a high quality, safe and secure home.
Northwards’ 13,000+ properties are now returning to direct City Council management in July 2021 after 92% of tenants choose to return to Council management. This is a significant change for our tenants, residents and all our staff. It joins up homelessness and housing management under the newly created Director of Housing Operations, with all housing management functions overseen by the Assistant Director Housing Operations.
This is a unique opportunity to link these vital housing services together and across the Council, under the Manchester City Council banner, to more easily make connections across the city, build relationships with all our key partners and use this fresh start to re-energise and refocus on providing high quality services to Northwards’ current (and soon to be our) tenants. High quality housing remains a key plank of the Our Manchester strategy, and is one of the key priorities for both these roles.
Director of Housing Operations
Overseeing Housing Operations to council housing in North Manchester and the Homelessness Services, the new Director will focus upwards and outwards across the City, whilst building the foundations for dramatic service improvements. Key priorities will be embedding a new, positive culture within Housing Operations and establishing the service within the Council, using the opportunity to forge new strategic connections and relationships, delivering significantly improved housing services, overseeing delivery of our ambitious housing Capital Programme, delivering on a future focused digital agenda and overseeing our homelessness agenda. Northwards Housing needed to improve its performance. Our new Director will now lead this transformation in every aspect of our work.
The Director will also oversee Homelessness Services across the city. Meeting housing need, whilst addressing homelessness and its causes, remains a key priority and challenge for the city council. There remains a significant shortfall of suitable housing across the city with ever increasing demands. Working with partners across all sectors and colleagues within the council remains key to developing and delivering successful strategies that meet these needs.
The Director will bring deep, successful housing management experience, aligned with excellent political antennae and judgement, probably gained from working within a politically led environment. Combined with experience and insights gained from shaping and informing housing strategy and working with colleagues to meet housing need and homelessness, they’ll be able to oversee the breadth of services across this high-profile agenda. They’ll have succeeded in delivering housing services within an inner-city environment, have deep experience of meaningful engagement of tenants and will have demonstrated the leadership and senior management capacity to transform significant services in a large and complex organisation. They’ll share our passion for creating better neighbourhoods through social and economic inclusion, underpinned by a meaningful focus on diversity. The Director will have the strategic and leadership ability to shape agendas across the city and nationally, with the influencing, partnering and relationship skills to build highly effective alliances. They’ll relish the connections offered by returning to the City Council and will develop change at pace whilst in the spotlight.
We are an Equal Opportunities Employer and we positively welcome applications from all candidates regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.
