Job Outline

Job Title: / Director of Customer Services
Department / Customer Services - Housing and RepairServices (HRS)
Grade: / Employers In Voluntary Housing, Grade 9, SM 11-SM13
Normal hours of work (FTE):
/
Minimum 35 hours plus other requirements as driven by business needs
Responsible for:
/
Operational and Strategic responsibility for ensuring efficency and effectiveneess on all Business, People and Resource matters for Housing and Repair Services
Reporting to:
/
Chief Executive
Communication and collaboration with:
/
oAll BHA stakeholders & Employees
oThe Community
  • Business Partners, contacts and stakeholders across the RSL, Voluntary, Public & Private Sectors

  1. Your role

Yourprincipal role as Director is to effectively develop, manage and lead your people and services to assist Barrhead Housing Association improve its communities and deliver housing and repair provision / services to the best of its abilities via a robust and fully risk assessed and tested Customer Services(CS) Work Plan and over-arching internal Business Plan.

You will do this by efficiently delivering our business aims & objectives through focussed and linked up strategic development and implementation within your specific service area and ensuring your business actions / objectives are aligned vertically with BHAs’top level Business Plan, Mission Statement, Vision, and Values.

Equally important is the neccesity to align your service `horizontally` with co-Directors, ensuring your service delivers not only on its’ own aims & objectives to appropriate standards, but assists with Business Plan delivery for all of BHAs services through internal service partnerships and providing required support and/or resources.

AsBHA’s aims & objectives are ultimately determined by the Governing Board via the Chief Executive who has ultimate responsibility for the business, you will ensure each receives appropriate input, information, feedback, support, etc as required to help allow them to effectively make necessary decisions and fully discharge their responsibilities.

While operating autonomously as the C.S. Director, to be successful and help BHA evolve, you will work collaboratively as part of the Senior Management team, contributing at the top level to help drive continuous improvement across BHA as a business, employer and service provider. To aid this you will ensure H.S.strategies, aims & objectives, policies & procedures, etcpositively support that headline objective, and that they are underpinned by suitable performance measures which demonstrate progress towards organisational and departmental KPIs, other measures or standards.

Your critical responsibility as Director is to efficiently strategise, manage and properly resource your service to deliver the C.S.workplan.

To be successful requires you to inspire, lead and empower your people, ensuring they are capable of delivering what your service demands. You will need to ensure people understand what is required of them and why that is important to H.S.s`success and that of the wider business and community setting.

Fostering an environment of ’can do`, ownership and responsibility to help fulfil BHA’s desired outcomes by delivering high quality services is one of your key people objectives.

An additional, evolving, role requires you to operate C.S. as a business-to-business service provider to any external organisation or body we work with, partnership, co-operate with, etc to continuously improve BHA as a business and service provider in accordance with any agreements or arrangements approved – e.g. the Service Level Agreement Contract between BHA and LPS.

  1. Behaviours

To help deliver our Vision - “Creating opportunity for growth & improvement” – to uphold our Values, and provide the best service we can, you will need to be a management exemplar:-

  • Grow our people, our services & our business
  • Pro-active, energetic, enthusiastic, committed & current in your field
  • Informed & analytical – a forward thinking planner and pragmatic problem solver
  • Lead, inspire, motivate and empower people
  • Strategist - driving and fostering a ‘can do` positive culture that makes H.S. fit for present and future purpose
  • Carry authority, engender trust, be influential and convincing
  • Positively promote the Association and H.S, networking with people and organisations that can help improve our performance services, and increase options
  • Innovate, support and promote effective change
  • Develop synergistic business partnerships across the 3 sectors
  • Ensure we operate effectively, fairly, legally and efficiently at all levels across H.S.

3.Job Purpose

  1. To develop, lead, manage & resource Housing and Repair Services to be an effective in-house service provider across BHA, and deliver on C.S.s’ own operational objectives and responsibilities as detailed in the C.S. work plan.
  1. To work collaboratively and co-operatively across services with Senior Management colleagues to assist them achieve their services` operational objectives and responsibilities.
  1. Be an active part of the Senior Management Team, effectively contributing to and positively influencing all relevant areas of BHAs`business strategies / plans, growth, responsibilities and operation.
  1. To ensure compliance with the regulatory and legal framework, guidance and best practice adopted across the housing sector and in particular from within the Scottish Housing Regulator, Scottish Government and other regulatory bodies.
  1. Ensure all of your people are appropriately managed, informed, equipped and developed to safely and efficiently discharge their responsibilities.
  1. To help position BHA at the fore-front of our sector, ensuring strong governance and financial management at strategic & operational levels across your service, resources and people.
  1. To actively monitor your people & service to ensure required performance measures
  1. To effectively service and support other bodies / organisations we work with, partnership, co-operate with, etc in accordance with any agreements or contracts made.

4.KEY TASKS

The following has been identified as the key tasks attached to this post:

  • Develop, monitor and review the policies and procedures applicable to the CS department
  • Manage rent accounting procedures in conjunction with the Director of Corporate Services
  • Lead in the development and implementation of the welfare reform strategy and associated work across departments
  • Assist and develop community regeneration projects as appropriate
  • Lead in the development and implementation of tenant engagement, participation and consultation within the organisation and with external stakeholders
  • Develop, review and manage the requirements of the reactive repairs contracts
  • Lead in the development of a robust IT focused customer services and reporting framework, including development of digital inclusion for customers and the organisation
  • Manage the requirements of the sheltered housing service and related housing support needs
  • Assist in the development and delivery of business growth via LPS subsidiary and other business partnerships as appropriate
  1. Development

Your ongoing professional development is critical to the contunuing success of the Association and will be identified via two main streams;

  1. Continuous self assessment and learning needs identification/implementation
  2. Chief Executive driven learning and development through our Learning & Development Strategy

The ‘Catch-all’

This Job Outline isn’t designed to be an ultimate descriptor of everything you have

to do to ensure the business, its’ people and its’ services are a success – at the

end of the day it represents guidance and offers key areas to think about.

Ultimately you are responsible for every aspect of C.S. and as a result, you are

relied upon to use your expertise, skills, knowledge, experience, judgement, etc to

be continually striving for excellence in operation, people and service provision in

collaboration with all stakeholders for our community.

Person Specification:

Essential:

  • Proven track record in housing management areas including the Scottish Social Housing Charter on allocations, rent arrears management, voids performance, neighbour disputes, anti-social behaviour, complaints, etc.
  • Proven track record in leading, managing, motivating your people
  • Proven track record in delivering and managing contracts for reactive and void repairs
  • Proven track record in customer engagement and participation
  • Proven track record on requirements to meet registration for sheltered housing support through the Care Inspectorate
  • Proven track record in the delivery of a performance driven framework including benchmarking
  • Proven track record of change management and staff re-structuring
  • Proven track record in the development of IT systems, production and analysis of data for reporting
  • Proven ability to make effective contributions to organisational delivery of business efficiency and improvements at executive team and with governing Board
  • Educated to degree level with a professional qualification in a relevant discipline
  • Ability to meet our core values - demonstrating integrity, being efficient, responsible, dependable, and dedicated
  • Knowledge and requirements of registered social landlords of the Scottish Housing Regulator, and our general regulatory, legislative and statutory frameworks

Desirable:

  • Knowledge and delivery of housing legislation and good practice
  • Commitment to Investors in People accreditation and development of our people
  • What experience do you have in the managing externally funded, operational partnership projects and wider community regeneration?