Change and Improvement Partner

Great Places Housing Association; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A reputable housing organization in Manchester seeks a Change and Improvement Partner to enhance service design and delivery. The ideal candidate will foster continuous improvement, support leaders in change initiatives, and facilitate training. Core responsibilities include leading improvement activities, engaging with teams, and documenting insights. Requires strong facilitation, analytical, and leadership skills, along with a commitment to social housing communities. Competitive benefits and flexible working arrangements offered.

Benefits

Pension scheme with contributions

Healthcare benefits

Hybrid working options

Increased annual leave with service

Professional development fees covered

Discount offerings including gym memberships

Wellbeing initiatives throughout the year

Qualifications

• Experience leading improvement reviews with demonstrable results.
• Ability to communicate effectively across team boundaries.
• Expertise in designing and delivering coaching and training.

Responsibilities

• Deliver professional business partnering for improvement.
• Promote a culture of continuous improvement and learning.
• Support teams in service and process redesign.

Skills

Improvement reviews/initiatives

Continuous improvement methodologies

Expert facilitation skills

Stakeholder management

Analytical skills

Leadership skills

Communication skills

Education

Recognised qualification in improvement methodologies

Job description

Change and Improvement Partner

You’ll provide expertise and business partner support to leaders in change and improvement, promoting a culture of excellence in service design and delivery.

What you’ll be doing

• Delivering a professional business partnering service in line with the organisation’s improvement methodology to facilitate change and improvement
• Acting as a critical friend to provide an independent view of the effectiveness of current and established practices and processes to the leadership team
• Working in partnership with leaders and teams as an improvement expert to coach, facilitate and support a range of improvement activity, including large‑scale organisational and service reviews and continuous improvement activity including business process improvement reviews and problem solving initiatives
• Leading improvement groups using relevant tools and techniques to facilitate effective discovery and scoping activity to diagnose problems, carry out detailed data collection and analysis including observations and root cause analysis and use insight and learning to inform and prioritise areas for improvement
• To work with leaders, service managers, project managers and improvement groups to facilitate service and process redesign, including test and learn activity to co‑design practical, evidence‑based changes and solutions
• To understand change impact and coach managers and leaders to facilitate change readiness and robust implementation planning to ensure business areas are ready to adopt new systems and processes, mobilise new ways of working and realise the benefits of investment
• Working with leaders and managers to map and manage benefits and ensure changes are fully embedded and sustained through mechanisms to evaluate the effectiveness of change and benefits realisation
• Working with team members across the wider People and Culture Directorate to support colleagues and teams cross‑business undergoing changes to ensure they receive appropriate training and support to set them up to succeed
• Promoting a culture of continuous improvement and learning, providing advice, training and coaching on improvement mindset, tools and techniques and change management to colleagues across the business
• Providing facilitation, coaching and support to Service Excellence Groups, working with the lead Head of Service/Senior Management Team to deliver continuous improvement activity and enact effective business process management
• To document and present findings, learning and insight in reports and presentations which are impactful and produced to high quality standards
• Maintain a value‑adding external network, keeping up to date with new thinking in the discipline and promoting a culture of innovation within the organisation

What you’ll need

• Experience of leading improvement reviews/initiatives using a methodology, e.g. Lean Six Sigma, Systems Thinking, to improve service delivery, business performance and solve complex business problems – with demonstrable results including benefits realised
• An expert understanding of continuous improvement methodologies and practical experience of implementing these within an organisation
• A recognised qualification in improvement methodologies, such as Lean Six Sigma, TQM, Systems Thinking etc. (desirable)
• Expert facilitation skills, assertiveness, inquisitiveness and the ability to challenge individual and group thinking in an engaging and productive manner
• Expert influencing and stakeholder management skills at all levels, with the ability to drive culture change in the pursuit of business excellence
• Experience of designing and delivering training, coaching and supporting teams through change, ensuring the business is able to realise the benefits of investment in new processes, ways of working and products
• Experience of working with technical teams, e.g. in Tech Services and the ability to communicate and work effectively across team boundaries
• Sound analytical skills and the ability to interpret and present data in a meaningful way
• Experience of process re‑engineering and practical experience of implementing this within an organisation and best practice knowledge
• The ability to think laterally, taking a helicopter view and work collaboratively cross business
• Strong verbal and written communication skills and ability to interpret, analyse and present data in a meaningful way with impact
• Excellent leadership skills, with the ability to inspire and motivate at all levels
• Ability to adopt a coaching approach and to bring these skills into daily practice
• Ability to juggle multiple, cross business improvement activities through planning and adopting project management principles
• A positive and open mindset receptive to learning through giving and receiving feedback and reflective practice to continually develop and refine your individual and team’s practice
• An ability to work in uncertainty and to deal with challenging, complex business problems
• An ability to see and explain the bigger picture and how the change portfolio fits into the wider corporate environment

What we need from you

• A commitment to understand the challenges and opportunities that exist in the communities in which we work. We particularly value lived experience in social housing
• A passion to advocate on behalf of people and communities
• Commitment to work in partnership with others for the benefit of Great Places
• Ability to work from our head office at Derwent Avenue as part of hybrid working arrangements and travel between sites as required
• Ability to work flexibly and when needed outside normal working hours

What we give you in return for your hard work and commitment

• Pension ¦ DC scheme (up to 10% contribution from both colleagues and Great Places)
• WPA ¦ Healthcare scheme starts at no contribution level with £1250 of savings available per year (option to increase & add family members)
• Ways of Working ¦ We offer some hybrid and flexible working
• Annual leave ¦ Start at 26 days annual leave, increasing up to 30 days within 5 years + Bank Holidays
• Reward & Recognition ¦ You Count Rewards are individual reward’s for going ‘above & beyond’
• Professional fees ¦ The business pays the cost of one professional role related membership fee for each colleague
• The Market Place ¦ high street, restaurant & supermarket discounts, gym memberships, cycle to work, smart tech loans and much more
• Wage Stream ¦ You can access savings opportunities and early access to wages
• Health and Wellbeing Initiatives ¦ Our colleagues enjoy wellbeing campaigns throughout the year, with activities designed around our four pillars of wellbeing, these include career wellbeing, mental wellbeing, physical wellbeing and financial wellbeing

At Great Places we believe the wellbeing of our colleagues is vital to enable them to deliver to great services, all your benefits can be used inside and outside of work.