Housing Solutions Service Manager

Housing Solutions Service Manager RBKC616734

Job Summary:

Salary range: £55,497 - £63,045 per annum 
Work location: London
Hours per week: 36
Contract type: Permanent
Closing date: 3rd June 2024
Interview date: Week commencing 10th June 2024

About Us:

Help us to address the homelessness crisis 

At the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, we are facing a complex housing situation. We currently have a higher rate of children living in poverty than the London average, and we are close to double the number of households-per-thousand who are homeless, compared to the rest of London. We don’t think these statistics are acceptable, as we are committed to providing every member of our community with a great quality of life. This begins with preventing homelessness and supporting residents to have suitable accommodation – and as such, we need your expertise.  Join us in this work, and you will find the most fulfilling challenge of your career. 

The Role:

This is a valuable opportunity to take the lead in devising Housing Solutions, which will prevent homelessness and support some of the most vulnerable people in the district. We have a really great team working on this complex problem, but now we are looking for someone who will take this work and push it to the next level, so you will have plenty of autonomy to shape the service as you see fit. This will include building the confidence of the team by encouraging them to explore their most innovative ideas for how we can better support our local communities. 

With four Team Managers reporting directly to you and a wider team of up to 30 people, this is a large-scale challenge, but you will have plenty of backing for your ideas, and our full encouragement to assess and shape the future of the service. Specifically, you will have oversight of the Housing Register, our allocations policy, under occupation mobilisation and duties relating to homelessness. Whether applying welfare reforms to our operations, defining our rough sleeping strategy, or determining how we can guide public and private sector landlords in tenancy support, this is a highly varied role that will have a significant impact on families and individuals across the borough. 

Please refer to the Job Description for more information.

About You:

Coming from a background in which you have addressed housing needs through innovative change programmes, you will have a comprehensive knowledge of the government’s agenda on homelessness and welfare reform, plus an in-depth knowledge of all legislation including the Housing Act. With first-hand experience of running a front-line service to homeless households, you will appreciate the nuances of delivering complex dispute resolution services, and you will appreciate the immense importance of putting people at the heart of every decision. 

With the ability to handle a budget in excess of £2million per annum plus additional grants, you will be financially astute, and you will have some previous management experience, with the gravitas to lead a high-performing team. You will therefore have great communication skills, with the ability to constructively challenge and maintain a dynamic and collaborative environment. Working in the office for 3-4 days per week, this is a visible role in which you will lead by example. 

This is an undeniably exciting role, with the scope to take your career to unparalleled heights – all with the full support of an ambitious council that is committed to being the best, and access to a generous benefits package. So, if you share our determination to combat homelessness, then we would be delighted to receive your application. 

Please apply online explaining how you meet the requirements set out in the person specification and job description. CV’s will not be considered for this role.

We reserve the right to extend or close this vacancy early without warning subject to the volume of suitable applicants.

Application process

Please do not upload any documents, including CVs/Covering Letters or supporting statements, as these documents will not be reviewed and could result in your application not being shortlisted.

You should describe how you meet the person specification requirements for the position you are applying for in Section G of the application form.
Additional information

We are committed to promoting equality and respecting diversity and welcome applications from all sections of the community.

We are a Disability Confident Employer – committed to ensuring that our recruitment and selection process is inclusive and accessible.

We engage our staff with a variety of learning types including face-to-face and virtual learning because we want to ensure our staff understand our values and behaviours, grow their skills and develop their careers.

This post is covered by the Fluency Duty, as outlined in the Code of Practice on the English language requirements for public sector workers.

We do not accept speculative CVs from any source.

Please note, that we will primarily contact candidates by e-mail throughout the recruitment process, please monitor your email junk/spam folder as our system-generated emails may be allocated to these folders by your email settings.

If you experience difficulties with the recruitment application process, please contact the recruitment team by email: recruitment@rbkc.gov.uk