Stoke-on-Trent is a unique place – forged through its industrial past, built on layers of enterprise and craftsmanship, and with a strong sense of personal and collective identity. It is also a city of parks, open spaces and waterways, with excellent connectivity to the West Midlands and the North West. The council has recently developed a bold new strategy, centred around creating an environment in which people and institutions can work together to improve the wellbeing of all residents and tackle longstanding inequalities. This is not a ‘top down’ approach; rather, we want to work in step with our residents to ensure a community-led development of prevention, support and enterprise activity.

THE ROLE

We are committed to delivering our ambitious programme for transforming and improving the aspirations and opportunities for the residents of Stoke-on-Trent City Council. And that’s where you come in. We are looking for an exceptional candidate with the knowledge and experience to deliver our vision and priorities through high-quality management of our housing services and related functions, and implement our transformational ambitions, whilst ensuring that the council meets its statutory duties. At heart, this role is about ensuring we are a first class housing landlord in all respects, from customer service through to neighbourhood management.

The council is a stock holding authority and maintains close to 18,000 residential housing units across the city. This includes houses; low, medium and high rise flats; bungalows; and sheltered housing schemes.

As the Assistant Director of Housing Management, you will manage housing finances in close partnership with our finance department to enable a structured programme of investment in maintenance and replacement of stock. You will determine the best models of service delivery across the division to enable a high-quality customer experience, achieve high performance and contribute to the council’s ambitions to be a commercial council. The role will be accountable for the council’s compliance with the regulators, including standards relating to tenant involvement and empowerment.

To be successful in this role you will need to develop and promote a clear focus on quality assurance, service accessibility and responsiveness to maximising resident and stakeholder involvement.  You will need to take a strategic view to the development of a sustainable business plan and effective housing strategies which will support the delivery of our vision and aims.

We are open to all specialisms and backgrounds, but it is critical that you are experienced in tenancy services and housing asset management, including maintenance and repairs.

We need someone who can act as our housing management and maintenance ambassador for the city and for the council, forming strategic alliances and developing effective working relationships with diverse stakeholders including elected members, council officers, local communities, businesses, Government departments and other external agencies, in order to maximise capacity and pool resources wherever possible.

Finally, as a senior officer, you will provide confident, visible, strategic and values-led leadership and direction. You will demonstrate effective political awareness and leadership qualities with the aptitude to promote a culture of close collaboration and strategic working.