Assistant Development Manager; Housing

About the role

We are looking for an Assistant Development Manager (Housing) (Assistant Project Manager) to join our Growth and Development Team on a permanent basis. This role can be based at any of our three offices:
Liverpool, Didsbury, Accrington.

The successful candidate must have experience in building/property development.

The purpose of the role is to assist and support the growth team to review and appraise new development opportunities in line with the organisation’s development and growth strategies to contribute to the delivery of the organisation’s development programme targets.

• Competitive salary of £46,000 per annum.
• 32 days annual leave plus bank holidays, a total of 40 days paid holiday per annum (≈8 weeks).
• Salary Finance – access to short and long term loans plus a savings facility.
• Opportunity to increase annual leave with service or through the holiday purchase scheme.
• Immediate entry to our Pension scheme (matched contributions up to 10 %).
• A flexible working environment and a range of family‑friendly policies.
• Simply Health cash plan with financial benefits and option to extend to family (covers dental, optical, physiotherapy, 24‑hr private GP access and more).
• Paid leave for absence including sickness, maternity, paternity, and adoption leave.
• Learning for life scheme – up to £150 annually.
• Wide range of discounts and cash‑back offers (retail, automotive, holidays, cycle‑to‑work).
• Career development with support and access to training and qualifications.

• Development Appraisals – Prepare appraisals of new development opportunities across multiple tenures using Pro Val software, including local market analysis and consideration of housing policy, strategy, neighbourhood planning and localised demand.
• Project Initiation – Work with external agents, contractors, and developers to gather all required information; coordinate internal feedback; support progress through feasibility stage to internal approval; deliver accurate information to partners.
• Finance – Pay invoices and assist with monitoring abortive spend to ensure it remains within approved budgets.
• Programme Management – Keep accurate file records, ensure compliance with internal and external audit requirements and Homes England capital funding guidance; provide forecast dates for handovers and completions to delivery colleagues.
• Regulation and Risk – Monitor and report risks associated with schemes at feasibility and initiation stages; keep risk registers up to date.
• Reports – Maintain accurate records and data on new opportunities; report on unsuccessful bids; prepare written reports for approval by Executive Committee, Development Committee or Board.

• Knowledge of development appraisals and related software.
• Knowledge of housing, property development or sales.
• Knowledge of Homes England requirements.
• Experience of following processes and a proven track record of problem‑solving and multi‑tasking.
• Experience liaising and building positive relationships with other departments and external consultants.
• Excellent communication skills both written and verbal.
• Experience producing accurate and concise reports in Word, Excel and practice software tools.
• Experience of accurate record keeping, administration and time management.
• Excellent customer service skills.

• A‑Level standard qualification, or equivalent.

• Project Management qualification.
• Degree qualified in a relevant property‑related discipline.

Onward Homes is one of the largest registered providers of social housing in the North West, with 35,000 properties across the region.

We believe that everyone deserves a place to call their own, which is why we’re committed to building 500 new homes each year. We do more than just provide a roof over our customers’ heads – we’re here to make a real difference.

We continuously strive to create a positive and progressive workspace to enable our colleagues to achieve their full potential.

We embrace diversity and strive for diverse teams to create an inclusive culture which enables Onward to thrive and be representative of the communities that we serve. We want to ensure that everybody has an opportunity to be part of our recruitment processes and will therefore make reasonable adjustments to accommodate our candidates. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to assist you with our recruitment process.

For any questions in relation to the role at any stage of the recruitment, contact the HR team at  – a member of the HR Team will be in touch.