Housing and Communities Manager

About Us:

Based in the heart of Warwickshire, the beautiful district of Stratford-on-Avon is, without doubt, one of the most scenic and historical regions in the UK. Stratford-on-Avon District Council’s headquarters are located in the heart of William Shakespeare’s hometown. In the District, you will find thriving market towns, home to over 135,000 residents and a tourist destination for millions of visitors each year, from across the globe. We are proud to provide public services to residents, businesses and visitors across this magnificent region, making it a great place to live, work and visit.

At the Council, our people are our superpower and by choosing to bring your talents to our organisation, you will be joining a great team where everyone feels that they truly belong, full of dedicated people all working with passion and purpose, across a dynamic portfolio of work providing high-quality services.

Benefits:

As part of our team, you will enjoy a comprehensive benefits package, including:

Flexibility:

• A minimum of 25 days of annual leave, plus Bank Holidays.
• Hybrid working arrangements with the flexibility to work from home for up to 60% of your hours (dependent upon the role)
• Flexi-time scheme for a better work-life balance.
• Health Cash Plan Scheme for medical and dental expenses.
• Eye test voucher scheme
• Everyone Active Gym Membership discount

Lifestyle:

• Health Cash Plan Scheme for medical and dental expenses.
• Eye test voucher scheme
• Everyone Active Gym Membership discount

Professional Development:

• Training and Development opportunities.
• Payment of one professional subscription fee
• Access to the Local Government Pension Scheme to secure your future.
• Access to free Will writing services.
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Salary Sacrifice schemes e.g. Cycle to Work etc.
• Free town centre parking

Financial Planning:

• Access to the Local Government Pension Scheme to secure your future.
• Access to free Will writing services.
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Salary Sacrifice schemes e.g. Cycle to Work etc.
• Free town centre parking

What to Expect in the Role:

As Housing and Communities Manager you will have a pivotal role in the shaping of the District’s housing services and fostering strong connections with the community to enhance the wellbeing of residents.

You will have great relationship building skills to build partnerships with external organisations and housing providers at both a strategic and operational level. You’ll be able to use your experience, dedication and enthusiasm to lead and motivate high performing teams and ensure the effective management of the council’s housing services and community development initiatives. You will be analytical in your approach and enjoy involvement in reshaping key services to align with the council’s Digital Strategy.

To be successful in this post, you will need strong management skills embrace a positive teamworking approach, have great initiative together with excellent organisational and communication skills and be able to liaise with a variety of partners and stakeholders in this important role which sits at the heart of a developing agenda.

To effectively manage the combined forward planning and housing teams, aligning key work activities (e.g. the delivery of planned levels of growth) with other corporate and community priorities. To direct the day-to-day work of the team and foster a collaborative and productive work environment

Key Accountabilities and Responsibilities (Please see Job Description and Person Specification for more details):

• Manage the effective delivery of the Council’s housing and communities services, aligning key work activities with other corporate and community priorities. To direct the day-to-day work of the team and foster a collaborative and productive environment.
• Lead on the delivery of the Housing and Communities Service Plan, including driving improvements through delivering on key projects around warm homes, updating our housing register and developing our approach to temporary accommodation.
• Lead our approach to ensuring housing and communities services comply with legislative and regulatory frameworks and maximise any funding available, including responding to emerging changes such as the implications of the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023.
• Responsible for ensuring appropriate governance and assurance across housing and communities services, including monitoring performance against key KPIs.
• Support the Head of Housing, Revenues and Customer Services to ensure that the Council delivers excellent, customer-focused, value for money services, which best meet the needs of the public, are compliant and enhance public satisfaction.

What You’ll Need (Please see Job Description and Person Specification for more details):

You’ll be an expert in your field of housing and will have a broader understanding of how different areas of housing interlink. In addition, the successful candidate will have:

• A can do attitude with people management experience or experience of managing a team during periods of change.
• Experience in delivering projects, preferably in one of the services listed in the Job Description.
• Experience of working in partnership to deliver outcomes that best meet local need.
• Good working knowledge around housing legislation, national policy and guidance and best practice.
• Experience of delivering services in line with a legislative and regulatory framework, in at least one of the service areas listed in the Job Description.
• Experience of preparing and presenting formal reports and presentations.
• Excellent Customer and Relationship management skills, at all levels.

For an informal chat about the role, please contact Hannah Buckley, Head of Housing, Revenues and Customer Services on hannah.buckley@stratford-dc.gov.uk

Applications will close at midnight on 13th July 2025

Interviews will be held on 18th July 2025

The Council is committed to equality of opportunity and aims to create a welcoming, inclusive workplace where we are all able to bring our whole selves to work and perform at our best.