Director - Independent Living

Sanctuary Group; Cheadle Hulme; Hybrid; GBP 99,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading housing association in the United Kingdom is looking for a Director of Independent Living to manage its new service and provide strategic leadership. The role involves overseeing various projects, managing budgets, and ensuring quality service delivery across England. Candidates should have strong team leadership experience and knowledge of regional strategies in the housing sector. Benefits include flexible working conditions and a robust employee package.

Benefits

25 days annual leave plus public holidays

Pension scheme with employer contributions

Life assurance

Employee advice service

Cycle to work scheme

Voluntary health plans

Wellbeing support

Employee networks for inclusion

Qualifications

• Experience leading teams located across regions with a customer-centric approach.
• Proven ability to implement regional strategies in housing sector organizations.
• Strong project management experience and skills.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic advice and support to Directors and Senior Managers.
• Lead various strategic projects for the Independent Living service.
• Manage local budgets and ensure compliance with financial policies.
• Deliver high-quality housing services throughout England.

Skills

Team leadership across multiple locations

Regional strategy implementation

Project management

Excellent interpersonal skills

Understanding of the political landscape

Customer service skills

Education

Relevant degree

Certificated Member of the Institute of Housing

Job description

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Operation: Sanctuary Independent Living Service

Closing Date: 28/08/2025

Salary: £98,004 / year

Requisition: 225665

Sanctuary manages rented and shared ownership homes and supports community initiatives for thousands of customers across England. Our staff help make a real difference to the quality of people’s lives.

Director - Independent Living

Flexible base location with a balance of home and office working

£98,004 per year plus car allowance of £9,800

35 hours per week

We have an exciting and newly created opportunity for a Director – Independent Living to manage andprovide strategic leadershipto Sanctuary's new Independent Living service, working closely alongside leaders in our regions. This role sits within our Housing England team, which manages homes across England, providing general rented housing, housing for older people, market rent properties, shared ownership and home ownership accommodation.

Reporting to the Director of Housing and Customer Services you will provide strategic direction and operational leadership to support the ongoing development and effective delivery of the Group’s Independent Living Housing services while bringing effective and inspirational leadership coupled with a quality-driven ethos. You will sit in the Affordable Housing Senior Management Team (SMT), with decision making ability into the national housing service.

The role of Director - Independent Living will include:

• Providing strategic advice, tactical support and co-ordination to Group Directors, Director of Housing and Customer Services and Senior Managers in relation to the Group’s Business and Strategic Plans for Independent Living
• Leading and delivering on a range of strategic projects
• Managing the development of local budgets and maintaining effective control to ensure compliance with all financial policies
• Ensuring the delivery of high quality and value for money housing services throughout England, including London to meet the needs of customers
• Providing effective leadership of all housing functions in the region(s) by promoting an effective organisational culture, safe working and performance focused environment

Skills and experiences:

• Previous experience of leading a team located across several locations, with the customer at the heart of the business
• Proven experience of implementing regional strategies for a similar type of organisation
• Certificated Member of the Institute of Housing or similar coupled with a relevant degree is pivotal for success in this role
• A knowledge and understanding of the political landscape of regions
• Comprehensive experience of managing projects with strong project management skills
• Excellent interpersonal and customer service skills
• This role will involve driving on company business. In order to drive a company vehicle, drivers must hold a full valid UK driving licence

Why work for us?

We are a not-for-profit housing association, and own and manage around 125,000 homes. We foster a diverse and inclusive culture, and nurture and reward talent. Our customers are at the heart of all we do, and colleagues help make a real difference to people’s lives.

As part of our commitment to making Sanctuary a great place to work, where your wellbeing is of genuine importance, we have developed an attractive employment package. The package recognises your contribution, supports your physical, mental and financial health and gives you the flexibility to tailor your employee benefits by offering:

• 25 days annual leave (rising to a maximum of 30 days) plus public holidays
• A pension scheme with employer contributions from Sanctuary
• Life Assurance
• Employee Advice Service including counselling
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Voluntary health plans
• Wellbeing support and tools
• Employee Networks, with a shared interest in inclusion, and who provide invaluable support to colleagues
• Role salary is £95,325 with an additional policy allowance of £2,678 per annum

If you're unsure about any details, have questions about the role or want to discuss a need for adjustments, our fantastic talent team will be happy to help you – [e-mail]

We reserve the right depending on application numbers to close or extend the closing dates for positions; we would therefore recommend an early application.

Inclusion is one of our core values. Our goal is to be a diverse, inclusive organisation where our people thrive and meet our customers’ needs with fairness and empathy. We know having a range of ideas and opinions makes a difference. We encourage and welcome applications from people from diverse backgrounds to support this mission. We will make adjustments throughout your application process, in line with Sanctuary’s commitment to our Disability Confident employer status.

Building Equality and Diversity

Sanctuary Group encourages and welcomes applications from people from diverse backgrounds to support our commitment to offering an inclusive environment for our employees and customers.
We work closely with the Home Office in order to prevent illegal working.
Sanctuary Housing Services Limited is a subsidiary of Sanctuary Housing Association, an exempt charity.