Housing Operations Manager

Housing Operations Manager

We're looking for a kind, compassionate and resilient Housing Operations Manager located at our Head Office in Islington.

£59,535 .00 per annum, working 35 hours per week.

Want to feel valued? You'll feel at home here.

Making you feel at home here means helping you thrive in every way. That's why we offer a wide range of benefits, award-winning Learning & Development and a culture that welcomes all. These aren't token gestures - we've thought long and hard about how best to support our team. After all, our people are doing something amazing: helping to transform lives every day .

Our benefits include:

• Annual leave increasing up to 30 days with length of service
• A generous pension - we will contribute up to 8% and life assurance cover up to 3x pensionable salary (T&Cs apply)
• Free DBS
• Exclusive discounts and cashback via Reward Gateway® and opportunity to buy a Blue Light Card
• Fully paid induction programme and further training
• ILM courses and Apprenticeship Programmes
• Cycle to work scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme for 24-7 confidential support
• Online wellbeing resources
• Quarterly Staff Awards to reward & recognise our amazing staff's commitment and contribution

All applicants must be legally eligible to work in the UK by the start of employment as Look Ahead are not able to offer sponsorship.

The Housing Operations Manager is responsible for the effective day-to-day delivery of housing management services across a mixed portfolio of commissioned and community-based supported housing. The role supports residents with needs ranging from lower-intensity housing management to complex vulnerability requiring coordinated input from statutory and specialist services.

The role provides operational oversight of tenancy management, compliance, estates, voids and lettings, resident safety, ensuring consistent standards, timely decision-making and effective escalation of risk.

The postholder will support and manage housing officers, work closely with property, compliance, and support colleagues, and ensure housing services are delivered in line with organisational policies, regulatory requirements and commitments set out in the Tenant Handbook

What you'll do:

This is not an exhaustive list of all the duties and responsibilities that may be required from time to time and is subject to change in accordance with the needs of Look Ahead

Housing operations and tenancy management

• Lead the day-to-day landlord function across supported housing services, keeping standards consistent and addressing issues before they escalate.
• Keep close oversight of complex and high-risk cases, stepping in where cases stall, drift, or present immediate risk to residents, staff, or properties.
• Direct tenancy management activity, including ASB, non-engagement, abandonment, and breaches of tenancy or licence, particularly where patterns repeat or early warnings have been missed.
• Ensure housing management practice actively supports tenancy sustainment, resident safety, and service stability, especially in services with high turnover or persistent non-engagement.
• Work alongside Income colleagues to intervene early on arrears, where missed appointments, failed contact, or benefit delays indicate rising tenancy risk.
• Lead liaison with the Tenancy Sustainment Team and the Clearing House, attending liaison meetings, coordinating case reviews, and making clear decisions on next steps. Hold operational responsibility for Clearing House placements from sign-up through sustainment, enforcement, and tenancy endings, including securing vacant possession where required.
• Take responsibility for legal escalation, including injunctions and possession proceedings, where repeated breaches or access failures place compliance, safety, or service continuity at risk.

Safeguarding and Risk Management

• Take responsibility for ensuring housing management activity actively identifies and responds to safeguarding risks, including where concerns emerge through non-engagement, property condition, or repeated enforcement action.
• Work closely with Care and Support colleagues to balance tenancy enforcement with vulnerability, recognising when standard housing responses may increase risk rather than resolve it.
• Ensure risks linked to access failures, unsafe living conditions, hoarding, or environmental issues are surfaced early and escalated before thresholds are reached.
• Lead or contribute to risk review conversations for residents with complex or recurring issues, ensuring actions are clear, tracked, and followed through.
• Promote a safety-focused culture across housing teams, using learning from incidents, complaints, and near misses to strengthen practice and prevent repeat issues.

Property, Estates and Void Management

• Oversee a planned programme of estate inspections, tenancy audits, and housing-led health and safety checks, ensuring actions are clearly recorded, owned, and followed up where standards fall short.
• Manage void performance through effective end-of-tenancy processes and early coordination of re-letting activity, reducing void periods and avoidable rent loss.
• Support the resolution of complex repairs and access issues, particularly where residents disengage, refuse access repeatedly, or where property condition presents escalating risk.
• Ensure housing teams contribute effectively to property standards, estate management, and resident engagement, including where poor upkeep or communal issues drive complaints or antisocial

Compliance and Resident Safety

• Take day-to-day responsibility for housing-led compliance activity, working closely with Property and Compliance teams to make sure statutory requirements are met in practice, not just on paper.
• Attend regular compliance escalation meetings, including weekly forums, focusing on gas safety, electrical checks, and fire risk assessment actions, and ensuring clear follow-up where progress stalls.
• Manage access issues proactively, particularly where repeated refusal or non-engagement creates safety or compliance risk, and lead on appropriate escalation, including legal action where necessary.
• Ensure gas-capped risk assessments are completed and kept under review, working with colleagues to reduce the number of gas-capped homes through coordinated access, support, and enforcement activity.
• Ensure fire safety activity is completed and evidenced, including annual fire door inspections, monthly communal fire door checks, fire drills, and flat checks, addressing gaps promptly where standards are not met.
• Hold housing teams to account for maintaining accurate, timely, and auditable records for all safety and compliance activity, recognising record-keeping as a core part of resident safety.

Leadership and Team Management

• Line manage Housing Officers, setting clear expectations around performance, accountability, and professional conduct, and addressing issues promptly where standards slip.
• Provide day-to-day support and direction to staff managing complex and high-risk cases, particularly where cases stall, risks escalate, or confidence is low.
• Lead regular case reviews, using them as a practical forum to challenge decision-making, strengthen consistency, and support learning across the team.
• Support staff to apply housing policies confidently and proportionately, recognising when judgment and escalation are required rather than standard process.
• Foster a culture of ownership and proactive case management, where staff take responsibility for outcomes as well as actions, and understand the impact of delay or inaction.

Cross-Departmental Coordination

• Act as the main operational link between Housing, Property, Compliance, Care and Support, and Income teams, ensuring issues are addressed collectively rather than passed between services.
• Coordinate responses to operational blockages, including access for safety checks or repairs, delays to void turnaround, and property issues that threaten tenancy sustainment or resident safety.
• Ensure information flows clearly between teams, particularly where housing, support, and compliance risks overlap or change quickly.
• Step in to resolve tensions or conflicting priorities between services, making clear decisions where delays or uncertainty increase risk.
• Escalate unresolved or high-risk matters to the Head of Housing with clear options, risks, and recommended actions.

Customer Involvement and Tenant Experience

• Promote meaningful resident involvement in housing services, ensuring opportunities for engagement are accessible and appropriate to the needs of supported housing residents.
• Support resident participation in tenants' meetings, estate inspections, and service reviews, particularly where feedback relates to safety, property standards, or day-to-day service delivery.
• Ensure housing teams communicate clearly and consistently with residents, especially where decisions involve enforcement action, access for compliance, or changes to tenancy arrangements.
• Oversee a fair and transparent approach to complaints, ensuring issues are investigated properly, learning is shared, and repeat concerns are addressed rather than managed around.
• Ensure housing management practice reflects commitments set out in the Tenant Handbook, balancing resident involvement with the need for firm, proportionate landlord decision-making.

Performance, Quality and Assurance

• Use performance data, case audits, complaints, and service insight to identify emerging risks, recurring issues, and gaps in housing management practice.
• Review service performance regularly, intervening where patterns of delay, non-compliance, or inconsistent decision-making indicate heightened risk or declining standards.
• Ensure housing services are inspection- and audit-ready, with clear records, defensible decisions, and evidence of timely follow-up action.
• Support regulatory, commissioner, and external reviews as required, providing assurance on compliance and responding effectively to findings or recommendations.
• Oversee the quality of casework and record-keeping, recognising these as fundamental to safeguarding, legal compliance, and effective risk management.
• Use learning from audits, complaints, incidents, and inspections to drive sustained improvements in housing management practice, rather than one-off corrective actions.

Key relationships

• Head of Housing
• Housing Officers
• Income Team
• Care & Support operational teams
• Property, Compliance and Facilities teams
• Tenancy Sustainment Team and Clearing House
• External partners, including solicitors and local authorities.

About you:

• Enjoys social interaction and the company of others, networks in local business community.
• Approachable and open behaviour.
• Prefers working as part of a group or team.
• Is fundamentally calm and resilient, does not let emotion adversely affect them or obscure their judgement.
• Has a practical and logical mind and is naturally well organised.
• Thrives on change and enjoys dynamic diverse environments.
• Is confident with high levels of self-esteem.
• Is respectful, articulate and sensitive in style of communication.
• Is passionate and enthusiastic about his/her career and job experiences.
• Is motivated towards excellence and improvement of personal performance with a can do attitude.

What you'll bring:

Essential:

• Ideally educated to degree level or equivalent.
• Holds relevant CMI/NVQ Level 3 or other business/management qualification.

Desirable:

• Other relevant professional memberships and/or specialist qualifications are desirable.

About us:

Look Ahead is a leading, not-for-profit care and support provider in London and the South East. Our vision is to build better lives through social care and housing in local communities. As an organisation we deliver over 100 services, providing support to thousands of customers each year. Our mission is to co-design and deliver services that offer innovative social care solutions and support people to thrive.We work across mental health, homelessness and complex needs, young people and care leavers and learning disabilities so there are plenty of opportunities to grow and progress your career with us.

We have a strong social purpose and we live and work by our values:

• We focus on Excellence and innovation.
• We are Caring and Compassionate.
• We are Inclusive and Trusted.
• We work in Partnership and are One-Team.

Look Ahead is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults at risk, and expects all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment.

If your application for this role is unsuccessful, but we feel that you would be suitable for another role, we may contact you to discuss alternative opportunities. If this occurs you would not need to submit another application for the alternative role.

We reserve the right to close this advert early if we are able to appoint to the vacancy before the advertised closed date.

We are committed to diversity and inclusion at work and are accredited with Silver in the Inclusive Employers Standard 2021. We are a proud member of the Employers Domestic Abuse Covenant and encourage applications from a diverse range of applicants of all backgrounds.