Strategy & Policy Officer - Internal

THIS ROLE IS INTERNALLY RESTRICTED

To apply for this job, you must meet all of the following criteria:

• Be an employee of Kirklees Council.
• Be employed by Kirklees for the duration of the recruitment process – up to and including the start date.
• Have successfully completed your probationary period.

(Please note that if you work for an Academy, you are not an employee of the Council.)

Your employment status will be checked, if you do not meet the above requirements your application will be rejected. 

Do you have experience in strategy and policy development? Are you ready for a new challenge?

Homes and Neighbourhoods is Kirklees Council’s housing function and came into being as a result of the Cabinet’s decision to transfer the activities of the former ALMO into the council in April 2021. The Service’s vision is:

‘Striving to be an excellent landlord by putting tenants and communities first’

We are committed to transforming the relationship we have with tenants by rebuilding trust, providing an excellent customer experience and involving the tenants voice in influencing and shaping decisions that affect their homes and neighbourhoods. We do this by working with people in a place-based way and recognise the importance of strong collaborative partnerships to deliver our shared outcomes.

Homes and Neighbourhoods is working towards its ambitious Improvement Programme which is transforming the way we work. The programme consists of three key workstreams, underpinned by significant investment in data and technology:

• Process Improvement
• Service Improvement and Assurance
• Culture Change

The post holder will sit within the Improvement and Assurance Team and be directly line managed by the Business Assurance Manager. The post holder, although dedicated to, and situated within, Homes and Neighbourhoods, will regularly work alongside the Corporate Policy Team to ensure corporate frameworks and approaches are replicated within Homes and Neighbourhoods.

The post holders main duties will be:

• Supporting policy development and revisions
• Be a subject matter expert when completing re-designs of major processes (e.g. repairs)
• Identify good practice, upcoming changes in regulation or changes in law (e.g. conducting regular research across forums such as the Housing Ombudsman, Housing Quality Network, Regulator for Social Housing and Inside Housing, in addition to exploring the work and success/lesson's learned of other organisations)
• Support embedding good practice or regulatory changes as above by working with teams to ensure plans are in place to address these or aligning them to existing work packages/projects
• Lead all consultations which the service (and wider organisation) including SMT and the HNIB will need to submit a response to (e.g. Awaab's Law Consultation and the consultation expected on the revised Decent Home Standard)
• Support senior managers with forward planning policy revisions and consultations
• Support senior managers with strategy planning and development, aligned to Council outcomes and the regulatory/assurance framework which we operate within.
• Support the Business Assurance Manager in identifying new and emerging risks across policy and compliance.

An understanding of social housing, and the regulatory environment in which we operate, would be advantageous.

This role is based within Growth and Regeneration – Homes and Neighbourhoods.Find out more about working for Kirklees.

We offer flexible working, a generous annual leave entitlement, and are committed to supporting our staff to have a positive work/life balance and support hybrid working – encouraging a mixture of home working, office working and through workshops across Kirklees. We are also committed to training and development, including gaining further qualifications where needed.

For more information about the role, please look at the associated documents below (Job Purpose). For an informal conversation about the role, please contact Sarah Thistlethwaite (Service Development Manager) and/or Philip Cross (Business Assurance Manager) at: sarah.thistlethwaite@kirklees.gov.uk and philip.cross@kirklees.gov.uk