Housing Manager

Job Title: Housing Manager

Responsible to: Director

Responsible for: Accommodation Maintenance Coordinator, Accommodation Coordinator

Hours: Full Time (35 hours)

Salary: £35,271.60 pa

Holidays: 27 days plus Bank Holidays

Location: Based at Victoria Hall Methodist Church, Norfolk St, Sheffield, with frequent site visits to ASSIST properties across Sheffield

JOB PURPOSE: To lead a team of staff and volunteers in ensuring ASSIST provides high-quality accommodation to 60+ people, whilst generating opportunities for future housing development and income generation that will enable ASSIST to sustain its vital housing offer.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Ensure the smooth delivery of our accommodation services for clients, in line with ASSIST’S values.
2. To maintain our current housing portfolio and explore avenues for development and expansion.
3. To oversee, and explore the expansion of ASSIST’s refugee housing project, ensuring it is providing regular income to the organisation
4. To develop ASSIST’s relationships with current and prospective ASSIST landlords, social housing providers, the Local Authority and other current and prospective partners
5. To maintain oversight of ASSIST’s accommodation volunteer teams and ensure they are appropriately resourced to deliver their work in line with ASSIST’s values.
6. To represent the Accommodation Service on the ASSIST Leadership Team and inform the general strategy and direction of the organisation’s work
7. To work with colleagues to ensure ASSIST’s accommodation services are funded and sustainable
8. To be aware of the issues affecting people who have been refused asylum and to tailor our accommodation offer accordingly.

KEY DUTIES

Housing Management and Development

To manage and lead the development of ASSIST’s housing portfolio, including:

1. To ensure that ASSIST’s 16 current properties are kept and maintained to an appropriate standard, ensuring any maintenance and improvement works are undertaken by staff or contractors in an appropriate time frame, and that all properties are safe, secure, energy efficient and compliant with current regulatory requirements
2. To explore the expansion of ASSIST’s portfolio in sustainable ways, including the identification, procurement and renovation of properties, ensuring ASSIST can provide sufficient bed spaces
3. To lead the development of ASSIST’s refugee housing project ensuring that this work is cost effective and generates sufficient income for ASSIST’s wider service delivery while enabling people with status to access safe and secure accommodation
4. To build relationships and work collaboratively with partner organisations, landlords, house owners, contractors and the local authority in the pursuit of ASSIST’s mission
5. To work with the Operations Manager to ensure sufficient insurance coverage of ASSIST’s housing and accommodation services
6. To work with the Finance Officer and Operations Manager to ensure suitable utility services are in place
7. To be responsible for relationships with tenants of refugee housing that are being managed by ASSIST

Leadership of Accommodation Services

To coordinate and lead our Accommodation services, guided by our organisational values including;

1. To lead ASSIST’s accommodation teams in delivering improved outcomes for clients
2. To lead the development and implementation of effective policy and best practices for ASSIST's accommodation services and our residents
3. To have an overview of the support needs and capacity of the accommodation volunteer teams (Maintenance, House Visitor and Host Teams)
4. To have overall oversight of the maintenance of the interior and exterior (ie gardens) of ASSIST houses, including by residents with support from staff and volunteers
5. To facilitate the trustee Accommodation Sub-Committee and attend its monthly meetings
6. To line-manage at least two paid staff members and ensure that they are well-supported to be effective in their roles. This includes responsibility for recruitment and retention of staff posts, monitoring their well-being and identifying continuing professional development goals and training needs
7. To ensure accommodation teams maintain accurate records and work with colleagues to develop clearer ways of demonstrating the impact of our accommodation service
8. To provide regular reports to the trustee board and stakeholders, as required
9. To work with the Operations Manager to identify and secure revenue and capital grant funding for ASSIST’s accommodation service and housing development, and fulfil any reporting requirements of existing funders
10. To ensure there is suitable out-of-hours support in place and available to residents in our accommodation

Leadership Team Responsibilities:

1. To be a supportive, solution-focused participant in Leadership Team meetings
2. To work collaboratively with the Leadership team in responding dynamically and contribute to decisions regarding day-to-day and strategic challenges the organisations faces
3. To lead on the development and implementation of ASSIST’s strategy for our accommodation service
4. To ensure smooth communication between the Accommodation Teams and the Leadership Team, so that decision-making and policy developments are informed by the accommodation team, as well as being fed back to them
5. To represent ASSIST locally and nationally, in specific reference to our accommodation work
6. To support ASSIST’s Safeguarding and Safe Practice Lead and deputise in their absence

Other Duties:

• To carry out other duties, as may be required to fulfil ASSIST's objectives.

An offer of employment is subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service DBS check.

ASSIST Sheffield is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, no: 1154862.