Assistant Director, Benefits & Homelessness Prevention

We are seeking an outstanding strategic leader to join our Housing Strategy & Homelessness Division as Assistant Director, Benefits & Homelessness Prevention. This is a key role at the heart of delivering the Mayor’s priorities and the Council’s corporate objectives, leading a high performing service that prevents homelessness, supports vulnerable residents, and ensures the timely and accurate delivery of financial support. With responsibility for a complex portfolio including Housing Options, Homelessness Assessment, Temporary Accommodation, Housing Supply, Rough Sleeping, Supported Accommodation, Benefits Assessment and Council Tax Reduction, you will drive continuous improvement and ensure a high quality, customer focused service.

You will provide strong, forward thinking leadership across a diverse workforce of around 270 staff and a budget of approximately £70m, ensuring services comply with legislation and deliver value for money. You will oversee the administration of the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, manage the Council’s Housing Register, and ensure effective prevention pathways that reduce reliance on temporary accommodation. You will also lead the delivery of Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction and Discretionary Housing Payments, ensuring robust financial controls, maximising subsidy, and promoting innovation, efficiency and excellent performance.

As a senior leader, you will represent the Council at sub regional and national level, work closely with Members, and collaborate with partners across the public, voluntary and private sectors to deliver better outcomes for residents. You will champion organisational learning, drive cultural and service transformation, and ensure strong governance, data quality and performance management. You will also deputise for the Director of Housing Strategy & Homelessness when required and contribute to corporate emergency planning and cross-council initiatives.

We are looking for a highly motivated and politically astute professional with extensive senior management experience within Housing Needs or Benefits services. You will bring deep knowledge of housing, homelessness and benefits legislation, proven success in leading large multidisciplinary teams, and a track record of delivering service improvement in a complex, fast-paced environment. If you are passionate about improving lives, shaping high-quality services and helping deliver a fairer, more inclusive borough, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Please note that the specific roles and responsibilities for this position may be subject to future review.

As a Council, our most outstanding asset is our staff, who are highly dedicated to serving our residents and committed to our goals as an organisation.

If you want to work in a place where you can represent our values so we achieve the best for our residents, please click on the apply button below.

We operate a fair and open anonymous selection process. Therefore, we do not accept supporting statements or CV’s.

To proceed with your application, you will need to create an account and submit your application.

As part of the application process, you will need to complete a number of competency based questions. These questions allow you to demonstrate your suitability for the role and provide examples of your skills, knowledge and experience outlined in the job description.

We understand the benefits of using AI in the workplace. However, if you are thinking of using this tool to submit your application, we ask you to think about what value it will add. AI tools tend to lack the personal touch and authenticity we value in candidates. We encourage you to showcase your unique knowledge and skills using your own voice.

This application process replaces a supporting statement.

Closing date for applications: 07 December 2025 (22.59)

Interview / Presentation date: 17 December 2025

We are also working towards our vision, which is to be a place for everyone; where residents and staff can be proud; a place that celebrates diversity and where everyone can feel valued, included and involved. In order to achieve this, we look for people who are: Proud; Ambitious; Pioneering; Open; Proactive; Inclusive.

Hackney Council works to eradicate discrimination on the basis of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.We also recognise that people can be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will also work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class. We also welcome those interested in flexible working. We particularly welcome applications from disabled people, as this group is currently under represented in our workforce.

The Council has a dedicated employment support service (Hackney Works), which offers Hackney residents guidance in relation to applying for jobs. If you are thinking about applying for a job, please contact the Hackney Works team to find out what support is available: hackneyworks@hackney.gov.uk