Inspire Excellence

Corporate Director of Housing

£141,965-£150,547 pa

Croydon is a council on a journey. By accepting and addressing the challenges of its past, the council is transforming itself into a modern, sustainable, and resident-focused local authority.

This is an opportunity to be part of a new chapter for Croydon and help shape the future of the council. A council with a passion for driving positive change and delivering excellence; a community with a rich heritage, a diverse population, and a distinct identity. It’s an environment in which you can find fresh inspiration and inspire others in equal measure.

Welcome to Croydon Council – and a role that will challenge you and fulfil you like never before. As our Corporate Director of Housing, you’ll head up our new Directorate of Housing, driving widespread improvements and promoting our values across everything from housing development, allocations, repairs and our HRA and whole council capital programme through to fire and safety, homelessness, and tenancy lettings. You’ll work collaboratively as part of the new corporate team of directors and with our Chief Executive to deliver the Croydon Renewal Improvement Plan, our priorities and ways of working, and a financially sustainable budget by March 2024.

The impact you’ll have

When it comes to housing, we’ve already started to make some improvements. But there’s much more we need to do. Which is why we need an inspirational leader like you. Taking responsibility for the housing service’s significant budget, you’ll work collaboratively across the council as well as with our elected members and really engage with our residents to deliver an improvement plan for housing that will see us working to the highest quality, compliance, and performance standards. We’ll also need you to look after a number of savings programme and transformation projects. 

There will be difficult decisions to make and tough budgets to deliver. But you’ll relish the chance to apply your ideas and ingenuity to find the best ways forward.

Your specific responsibilities will include:

• Providing all the information we need to make informed decisions about compliance, risk, and the future direction of Croydon’s Housing Services
• Undertaking a whole service review of the housing service and creating a new design and delivery model that establishes high standards for housing and tenant management, support services and asset management
• Promoting meaningful engagement with tenants, ensuring that their voices are heard and are influential, and maintaining positive and productive relationships with tenant groups
• Overseeing the effective financial and operational performance of the Housing Revenue Account, HRA and council wide capital programme and operational budgets, maximising our use of assets, and supporting our growth
• Ensuring all appropriate housing need arrangements are in place and leading the preventative aspects of homelessness in a holistic way as well as making sure the private sector meets its statutory responsibilities

The skills and experience you’ll bring

You’ll bring a track record of leadership success in social housing or a related sector – you’ll certainly have worked in another similarly large, complex organisation at a senior level alongside a wide range of stakeholders. An exceptional communicator, skilled influencer, and motivational leader, you’ll be able to develop successful and cohesive teams as well as driving continuous improvement in service delivery to achieve high levels of tenant satisfaction and engagement.

We’ll want to see excellent strategic skills too, especially when it comes to managing budgets and interpreting business information – you’re someone who can bring commercial acumen and insight to the role, and who can translate strategy into short, medium, and long-term plans. We’re looking for someone who will be a champion for our tenants and an inspiration to our whole organisation as you work tirelessly to ensure people in Croydon have access to the good quality homes and services they deserve.

Who we are – and where we’re going

We fully acknowledge the fact that we haven’t got things right in the past and have strengthened our resolve do them better. With a clear financial strategy in place together with an unwavering commitment to listening to our residents and putting them first, this is a reenergised Croydon. A determined Croydon, with a fantastic team of people who care about our community, and how we can support the many different people who live and work here.

We have a vision of what improvement success looks like for us – a future where we have a vibrant local economy, a great team of people, and delivering new ideas that will mean we can be at our best for the communities in Croydon.

How to apply

If you’d like to find out more, please click on the Apply Button below.

Croydon Council is an inclusive employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community. We are happy to consider applications from candidates seeking flexible working arrangements.

As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the advertised role. We’re committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and we expect every member of our team to share this commitment.