Head of Housing

Based in the Central Belt of Scotland, Horizon Housing Association promotes and provides affordable housing and services to enable people to live full independent lives in the community and works to address the national shortfall of fully accessible homes, promoting inclusive design. It has been a partner in Link Group since 2009 and works collaboratively across the Group to influence and deliver its priorities.

The organisation owns and manages over 890 properties, 25% of which is wheelchair accessible, with 71% if tenants living with some form of disability within their household affecting daily life. Horizon employs around 36 people and supports young people and others into work through Kickstart placements, internships and modern apprentices.

Horizon’s strategic objectives include providing quality homes and services at the right price, promoting accessible homes across Scotland, working collaboratively across Link Group, providing support to older and to disabled people, and addressing climate change. Working with universities and partner organisations the organisation is currently leading and supporting a number of national pieces of research into accessible housing and inclusive living.

The Opportunity

We are now seeking to appoint a new Head of Housing.

With the appointment of Lorna Cameron as CEO in late 2019, and the subsequent impact of COVID-19, Horizon Housing has been through a significant period of change, so this is an exciting time for the organisation as it looks to the future.

This is a key role within the senior leadership team and is critical in driving service improvement and development across the organisation, building on the good work undertaken thus far by the outgoing Head of Housing. There is a lot for the new Head of Housing to take on including driving key initiatives within customer care and wider services, partnership development, digital inclusion and improvement programmes, as well as the daily duties associated with broader leadership in the organisation.

The Head of Housing will assume full responsibility for key operational activities, and the strategic development of Horizon’s future services, reporting to and deputising for the Chief Executive.

In particular, the Head of Housing will ensure excellent performance, finance and people management to deliver tenant-focused, sustainable, accessible and value for money services. They will provide effective management and leadership of the service managers and operational staff, ensuring strategies, polices and supporting procedures are designed and implemented to enable excellent customer services and delivery of Horizon’s objectives.

The Head of Housing will also:

• Ensure the day to day running of the business is in line with statutory, regulatory and legal requirements
• Manage all operational key performance indicators and the continual improvement of processes, systems and services
• Enable innovation through creative thinking and monitoring and reviewing services. Ensure that service development results in efficient and effective services that respond to customer needs and aspirations
• Encourage and enable collaboration and partnership working with tenants, the wider Link Group and external organisations
• Play a key part in developing organisation-wide strategies and corporate leadership, supporting a positive customer focused culture
• Actively promote the Equality and Diversity Policy and practice in all aspects of the job role as it relates to colleagues, tenants, service users, contractors, consultants and external agencies
• Comply with the Health and Safety Policy, reporting any matters of concern to the Health and Safety Officer, representatives or staff
• Carry out other duties, within the scope of the job, and to meet the needs of the business as may be instructed by the Chief Executive or Board of Management

Candidate Requirements

We are seeking to appoint a dynamic and driven housing professional, who has experience of operating in a senior housing management role within a relevant social housing environment.

They will possess strong leadership, communication and influencing skills, with the ability to engage with colleagues at all levels and build positive relationships with external stakeholders.

The individual will have a creative spark, with an eye for improvement and initiative, and have experience of managing the delivery of improvement initiatives from idea to implementation.

For full details on the role, and how to apply please download the candidate brochure by clicking here.

Or get in touch with Jamie Brown at FWB Park Brown, on 0131-539-7087; or by emailing jamie@fwbparkbrown.com to arrange a confidential discussion in the first instance.