Places for People
Head of Development
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More About Your Role
We are seeking an experienced and commercially focused Head of Development to lead a portfolio of complex residential-led developments, including mixed-tenure and mixed-use schemes, affordable housing projects, joint ventures, and commercial opportunities. Reporting to the Regional Director, you will play a pivotal role in delivering our regional growth strategy, leading a portfolio of complex residential-led developments from acquisition through planning, delivery, and completion.
In our Greater London region, we are delivering some of the UK's most ambitious regeneration and housing-led developments. This includes our flagship Eastwick and Sweetwater neighbourhoods in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, East London, where we're creating vibrant mixed-tenure communities with c1,500 new homes, community facilities, public spaces, and commercial opportunities.
We are also progressing Camden Film Quarter where we are the residential partner, working with our delivery partner Yoo Capital, bringing forwards a major mixed-use regeneration project that will deliver new homes, employment space, and a world-class hub for the UK's creative and film industries. These landmark schemes showcase our ability to lead complex partnerships, unlock large-scale regeneration opportunities, and create sustainable places where people and communities can thrive.
This is an exciting opportunity to join a business delivering some of London's most significant regeneration and housing-led developments.
As one of the UK's leading Social Enterprises, we are committed to creating places where people and communities can thrive, balancing commercial success with long-term social value.
Key Responsibilities
- Identify, assess, and secure new residential, mixed-use, and regeneration development opportunities.
- Lead complex land and development transactions, including acquisitions, options, conditional contracts, promotion agreements, development agreements, and joint ventures.
- Manage projects through the full development lifecycle from site acquisition and planning through to delivery and completion.
- Lead masterplanning, planning strategy, and development optimisation across major schemes.
- Prepare and present investment papers, development appraisals, viability assessments, and business cases for senior leadership and Board approval.
- Drive commercial performance whilst ensuring developments deliver high-quality homes, strong customer outcomes, and sustainable communities.
- Manage relationships with local authorities, Homes England, landowners, registered providers, consultants, investors, and development partners.
- Oversee project risks, opportunities, and programme performance across a substantial development portfolio.
- Support the identification and securing of grant funding and partnership opportunities where appropriate.
- Lead, mentor, and develop Development Managers and wider project teams.
Essential Criteria
- Demonstrable experience delivering a range of residential development schemes across a range of tenures, including Affordable Housing, Build to Rent (BTR), and mixed-tenure developments.
- Proven experience leading and completing complex land and development transactions across a range of projects, structures, and tenures including affordable and build to rent.
- Strong understanding of the UK planning system, development process, and residential market.
- Strong financial and commercial acumen with experience preparing and managing development appraisals, funding streams, viability assessments, and business cases using development financial models.
- Experience of leading master planning and development strategy for large-scale residential or mixed-use developments, working with consultants, local authorities, and key stakeholders.
- Experience working collaboratively with a range of partners from all parts of the sector including housebuilders, funds, local authorities, and public sector stakeholders.
- Demonstrable success in securing planning permissions and progressing development opportunities into delivery.
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More About You
You will be a commercially astute development professional with a strong track record of originating and delivering successful residential and regeneration projects.
You will combine strategic thinking with a hands-on approach and be comfortable operating across both public and private sector environments. Equally capable of negotiating complex commercial transactions and building long-term partnerships, you will understand the importance of delivering developments that create lasting value for customers and communities.
Whether your background is in housebuilding, regeneration, mixed-tenure development, affordable housing, strategic land, or development consultancy, you will bring the leadership capability, commercial expertise, and collaborative approach required to drive a significant regional development programme.
Benefits
We know that there's always more we can do to make you smile, that's why we offer a comprehensive benefits package with each role, yours will include:
- Competitive salary with regular annual review
- Pension with matched contributions up to 7%
- 35 days holiday (including bank holiday) with option to buy or sell days
- Healthcare cashback plan for everyday medical costs - up to £500 savings per year
- Access to wellbeing support such as counselling and flu jabs
- Private GP and health support services available
- Access to a rewards platform with retail and lifestyle discounts
- Savings on groceries, travel, shopping, and home products
- Ongoing training and development opportunities
- Access to professional qualifications and career progression
- Internal development programmes and learning support
- Recognition schemes such as Star Awards and Colleagues Awards
- Strong focus on inclusion, wellbeing, and colleague engagement
- Free membership to Places Gyms
What's next?
If you meet the criteria and are ready to make the next step in your career, then apply following our simple 5-minute application process, upload a CV and a supporting statement which demonstrates how you meet the requirements of the role. If you have any questions, please email the recruitment team.
As part of our commitment to diversity and inclusion, we offer a guaranteed interview to candidates who are disabled, neurodiverse, or have served in the Armed Forces, provided you meet the essential criteria for the role. If you would like to be considered under this scheme, please indicate this in your application.
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We are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application or interview experience, please let us know. We're happy to work with you to ensure you have the opportunity to perform at your best.
If you are a Places for People customer and you're looking for support with your application, please contact our skills and employment team on.
Please note that we may bring the closing date forward, if we receive a large number of quality applications. If you are interested in this role, we would advise applying immediately to avoid disappointment.
If you are using a mobile device such as an iPad, then ensure your CV is stored in the cloud, we currently support Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox.
We understand the importance of a supportive and inclusive work culture, so please talk to us at interview about flexibility you may need. We can't promise to give you exactly what you want, but we promise not to judge you for asking. For this role, we are open to discussing the possibility of reduced hours, flexible start and finish times, or compressed hours.
If you are a recruitment agency, please note we operate a PSL and do not take cold calls.
Safeguarding
At Places for People, safeguarding is everyone's responsibility. We are committed to creating safe communities for our customers and colleagues by protecting children, young people, and adults at risk from harm, abuse, and neglect.
We follow robust safeguarding policies and procedures, ensuring all employees, volunteers, and contractors uphold the highest standards of safeguarding and accountability. Our recruitment process includes pre-employment checks, including Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks where applicable, to promote a safe and secure working environment.
By joining Places for People, you are expected to contribute to our safeguarding culture, following our policies and reporting concerns to protect those in our communities.
Armed Forces
We are proud to support the Armed Forces Covenant. Places for People will guarantee an interview for any candidate who is serving or has formerly served in the Armed Forces, as a reservist, armed forces veteran (including the wounded, injured, and sick), cadet instructor, and military spouse/partner and who meets the essential criteria for the vacancy.
Disability Confident
We are proud to be a member of the Disability Confident scheme certified as Level 2 Disability Confident Employer. This helps us to successfully employ and retain people with disabilities and health conditions. Disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for a vacancy will be guaranteed an interview. The Equality Act 2010 (Disability Discrimination Act 1995 for NI) defines a disabled person as someone who has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term negative effect on their ability to do daily activities.
Neurodivergent
Neurodiverse individuals have highly valuable skills, and we recognise that a traditional interview process sometimes works against them and doesn’t allow them to self-advocate. Neurodiverse applicants who meet the criteria for a vacancy will be guaranteed an interview.
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