Operations Manager – Homeless Prevention

Working on behalf of a Local Authority, Aatom Recruitment has a new opportunity for a Homeless Prevention & Housing Allocations Operations Manager on a 4 months contract with a possibility of further extension.

ROLE

PURPOSE:

Leadership and management of the Homeless Prevention and Housing Allocations Teams for residents in need of housing advice, housing allocation & housing assistance.

The post-holder will be responsible for proactively leading a service delivering advice and statutory assessments on housing options and preventing homelessness. They will be responsible for the effective management of the council’s allocation and re-housing services, including maintenance of the housing register and transfer list and resolution of accepted homeless cases to ensure the service is responsive to client needs within available resources ensuring agreed team plans and performance targets are delivered.

The operational service delivery will be consistently accurate, flexible and responsive to client needs within available resources ensuring agreed team plans and performance targets are delivered and that a culture of putting our residents first and continuous service improvement is maintained.

The post-holder will be responsible for leading and contributing to the delivery of strategic improvements to the service and other corporate, cross-cutting priorities, as required to deliver corporate priorities. This includes working closely with social care services to support the move-on of families to suitable accommodation, leading on cross-service strategies and understanding the impact of housing decisions on other key service areas.

• To be responsible for the selection, development and performance of the Homeless Prevention and Housing Allocations Teams in line with the Council’s HR policies.
• To ensure all team members receive the appropriate level of communication to maintain engagement with the Council’s vision, priorities and activities.
• To lead an effective team and service
• To represent the service and Council at a range of public and internal forums, actively seek to improve the council’s service delivery and provide a cohesive and efficient service to colleagues, residents and stakeholders.
• To implement and embed relevant policies, strategic actions and objectives within the operation of the team, identifying opportunities to improve performance, promoting modern and professional service delivery, expanding good practice and actively targeting weaker aspects of the service to improve.
• To challenge, manage and resolve poor performance where it exists within the team.

• To manage and deliver the range of panels available to enable key groups to access suitable housing and support, ensuring consistency and transparency in decision making.
• To be responsible for the management of the service delivering a professional, responsive and individualised service to residents requiring housing advice.

• To be responsible for the effective operational delivery of key frontline services, including a timely, high quality casework management service and customer-focussed contact arrangements. This will include developing and implementing clear procedures and professional standards to achieve excellence in day-to-day service delivery.
• To lead and be accountable for all aspects of the housing register & housing allocations functions, ensuring applications are processed and assessed within agreed time scales and housing allocations are made within agreed policies and procedures
• Work closely with other service teams, including the Corporate Fraud Team to ensure that verification processes are robust to ensure that decisions for the allocation of housing are made by the team based on clear evidence and operate in an environment of strong management oversight and governance.
• Be an expert lead and source of advice to Members and Chief Officers in the Council on homelessness and provide quality advice and information to senior managers, Councillors and government departments in respect of performance and policy developments related to housing needs, homelessness and housing advice. This will include the production and presentation of reports to Members and attendance at meetings of Council committees, as required.
• To be responsible for and actively review and manage all aspects of service delivery in regard to Housing Act 1996 P6&7.

If this sounds good to you, please apply for further information or call us directly.