Role Purpose

Ensure the provision of integrated housing, customer service, and support provision across the organisation through strategic leadership and direction. Operate at the strategic level as a member of the Leadership Team to ensure the Langstane Group’s mission, vision, and values are upheld at all times, leading by example to deliver the objectives set out by the Board of Management.

Responsible areas include allocations, income collection, tenancy and estate management, tenant participation, neighbourhood development, registered housing support service, and welfare rights. As the registered factor on behalf of Langstane, oversee factoring services, shared ownership, commercial, and other lease arrangements.

To ensure the effective and efficient delivery of performance and continuous improvement of all housing, customer service, and housing support activities and act as lead officer of the People and Performance Committee.

To ensure the Langstane Group is at all times sound and run with probity and transparency, whilst being able to undertake and deliver excellent services to tenants and other customers and partners that demonstrate value for money.

Role Remuneration

£77,626 - £86,251 + employer pension contribution

About the Role

We are seeking a Director of Housing and Communities to lead our housing, support, and customer service functions. This is a strategic role with significant influence across the organisation. You will help shape how we deliver homes and services, ensuring they remain responsive, designed with tenants, are customer-focused, and fit for the future.

We recently redesigned our housing service to be closer to tenants and give officers more capacity and autonomy to manage and build relationships in their neighbourhoods. Continuing this work will be a critical element of the role as we seek to increase tenant engagement, satisfaction, and participation over the coming years.

This is a key role at an exciting time for the association as we shape the next chapter. We are looking for an experienced strategic leader that will help create our next business plan, evolve our digital services, drive customer satisfaction, improve performance, and ensure we have the people, systems, and partnerships needed to deliver our long-term ambitions.

Key Accountabilities

• Play a key role in providing leadership that brings to life Langstane’s vision and strategic direction, contributing proactively to strategy and business planning that puts tenants at the heart of decision-making.
• To work with colleagues in the Leadership Team to drive delivery of strategic objectives as one team and identify opportunities for growth, development, improvement, and innovation.
• Play a leading role in bringing forward and managing transformational change initiatives across the organisation.
• Develop, lead, and deliver a plan of continual improvement across housing, customer service, and support functions to ensure excellent service delivery, increase tenant satisfaction, and improve performance.
• Provide visible and inspiring leadership and guidance to employees to develop highly skilled teams to ensure they are motivated, valued, and empowered to provide excellent customer-focused services, as well as supporting the development of colleagues through personal development discussions, coaching, and mentoring, identifying training needs, and developing the talent of tomorrow.
• Advance streamlined and efficient systems and processes, making positive contributions to enable the transformation set out in Langstane’s digital strategy.
• To provide accurate, timely, and professional advice to the Board of Management and sub-committees for specific areas of responsibility, including legislative changes, best practice, and innovative approaches to improve service delivery.
• Develop our digital by default customer journey routes by maximising self-service options, while ensuring other communication routes deliver a similarly simple and responsive experience for customers.
• Regular review and analysis of operational and strategic risks to the organisation, putting in place ways to mitigate and reduce, while assessing the wider environment to anticipate future risks.
• Engage with the Scottish Housing Regulator and ensure compliance with the social housing charter, regulatory returns, and assurance processes.
• To identify and respond to the challenges presented by the diverse population in the North East of Scotland by developing and implementing strategies to support tenancy sustainment, welfare reform, and affordability.
• Lead on initiatives and partnerships that promote thriving neighbourhoods, recognising that Langstane’s communities are wider than our housing stock.
• Participate in effective partnership working with local communities and with public, private, and voluntary organisations to achieve the Group’s objectives.
• Embed a performance culture, driving the continuous improvement of services and playing a lead role in best value processes, ensuring this is underpinned by appropriate performance management systems and information.
• Ensure that value for money is achieved through best value reviews, procurement processes, and tight budgetary control, including a cost-conscious approach to use of resources, supplies, and services, and that income is maximised through effective housing management policy and practice.
• Explore growth opportunities by developing and implementing added-value services, including identifying unmet need or service gaps, designing projects, and successfully bidding for external funding to meet these needs and strategic objectives.
• Work in partnership with other agencies at local and national levels to advocate for and contribute to wider policy.
• To lead on customer insight and engagement to identify and review customers’ needs and priorities, including capturing customer intelligence, targeted service delivery, and designing feedback mechanisms. This includes oversight of engagement processes, customer consultation, complaints handling, and mechanisms for customer influence, including developing customer scrutiny.
• Liaise with external and internal auditors to ensure compliance with policy and procedures and assess, manage, and minimise risk to the Langstane Group in all policy-making decisions.
• Be a role model for Langstane, maintaining positive relationships with suppliers, partners, the wider sector, and strategic networks, as well as continuous professional development.