Head of Housing Development

Leicester City Council; Leicester; Hybrid; GBP 74,000 - 79,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Local Government Pension Scheme

Flexible working

Generous annual leave

Job summary

Leicester City Council is seeking a senior leader to drive affordable housing delivery in the city. You’ll lead a small team of Development Officers and Programme Managers, shaping delivery across new build schemes, acquisitions, and partnerships with providers and funders.

The role offers hybrid working between City Hall and home, 37 hours per week, with a minimum two days in the office, and a commitment to flexible, inclusive services that improve residents’ lives.

Qualifications

• Experience leading and developing a high-performing delivery team.
• Extensive project management experience.
• Experience in affordable housing delivery.

Responsibilities

• Provide day-to-day leadership to a team delivering affordable housing priorities.
• Collaborate with Planning, Legal Services and Finance, and partner with Registered Providers and funding bodies to drive delivery.
• Chair the Affordable Housing Programme Board and oversee Strategic/Operational Housing Board meetings to ensure high-quality delivery.

Job description

Reference: REQ8031

Region: Central

Location: Hybrid working - Home and Leicester City Offices

Salary: *GBP*73,723 - *GBP*79,069 Per Year

Package: Total benefit value (includes pension contribution and full holiday entitlement): *GBP*107,815

Contractual hours: 37

Basis: Full time,

Full Time / 37 Hours Per Week / Permanent

Description: Full Time / 37 Hours Per Week / Permanent Would you like to play a key role in the delivery of affordable housing in Leicester to ensure that all residents have a place to call home. You'll lead a small but dedicated team of 4 Development Officers and 2 Programme Managers who lead on the delivery of new build council house schemes, our ambitious acquisition programme, work with other providers to ensure that their delivery meets the need of the city ensures that we secure the right mix and type of affordable homes via the Planning system. This is a full time, permanent role working 37 hours per week, Monday to Friday. You'll have flexibility in hybrid working being both office based, at City Hall or working remotely from home to suit the needs of the service. However, under our New Ways of Working policy, you'll be required to work a minimum of two days week in the office.

What You’ll Be Doing

In this pivotal role, you’ll provide day-to-day leadership, guidance and direction to a dedicated team, ensuring our strategic affordable housing priorities are successfully delivered and continue to make a positive impact across the city. You’ll inspire and support your team, creating an environment where people feel empowered, motivated and equipped to deliver a diverse range of affordable housing solutions across all tenures.

Working collaboratively with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, you’ll build strong relationships with teams including Planning, Legal Services and Finance, while also partnering with Registered Providers, Homes England and other key funding organisations. Your ability to influence, coordinate and bring people together will be essential in driving the city’s housing ambitions forward.

You’ll take a leading role in shaping and overseeing affordable housing delivery by chairing the Affordable Housing Programme Board, bringing together active housing providers from across the city to maximise opportunities and remove barriers to delivery. In addition, you’ll lead both the Strategic Housing Board and Operational Housing Board meetings, ensuring a coordinated approach that supports the successful delivery of high-quality affordable homes and achieves the best possible outcomes for residents.

What You’ll Need

You’ll bring proven experience of leading and developing a high-performing delivery team, providing clear direction, support and motivation to achieve ambitious objectives. Alongside strong leadership skills, you'll have extensive project management experience, with the ability to oversee complex programmes, manage competing priorities and drive successful outcomes in a fast-paced environment.

You’ll possess significant experience in affordable housing delivery and a strong understanding of the opportunities and challenges involved in bringing new homes forward. Whether navigating funding requirements, stakeholder expectations, viability considerations or delivery risks, you'll be confident in finding solutions that keep projects moving and deliver meaningful results for local communities.

We're looking for someone with a thorough understanding of the housing development process, from inception through to completion. You'll be comfortable managing substantial budgets and ensuring resources are used effectively to maximise value and delivery. Most importantly, you'll thrive under pressure, demonstrating resilience, sound judgement and the ability to make informed decisions while balancing strategic priorities, deadlines and the needs of a wide range of stakeholders.

What We Can Offer You

As well as the satisfaction of helping to improve thousands of lives across Leicester, you can lookforward to a work environment that encourages a healthy work/life balance. You’ll enjoy generousannual leave, membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme and the option of flexibleworking. We’ll also give you the chance to develop your skills and expertise with a variety of trainingand development opportunities. In addition, you can choose froma number offlexible benefits,including discounts on city buses and trains. Foran illustrative value of your benefits package,take a look at ourbenefits calculator.

Join us

We’re committed to recruiting a diverse and highly-talented workforce as we continue to build acouncil that is fitting and representative of our great city. That’s why we’ve designed ourrecruitment process to put you at your ease, make you feel welcome and bring the best out of you.We’ll do all we can to make our recruitment process as fair as possible.

Interviews will take place on Friday 11th September 2026.