Head of Programme - Council Housebuilding Support

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION; London; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

The Local Government Association (LGA) seeks a Head of Programme to lead a critical housing support initiative. This fully funded role involves working with councils to enhance their housing strategies and deliver significant social housing projects. The ideal candidate will possess strong leadership capabilities and extensive experience in local government, particularly in housing and regeneration. This is a fixed-term position until June 2026, with opportunities for extension based on funding.

Benefits

29 days annual leave rising to 31 after three years

Flexible and agile working

Access to employee assistance programme

Family friendly policies

Qualifications

• Proven experience of leading large programmes related to housing/capital projects.
• Track record in delivering complex programmes successfully.
• Ability to build relationships with public sector stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of a new housing support programme for councils.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to ensure effective programme delivery.
• Manage the team overseeing delivery of housing initiatives.

Skills

Leadership

Influencing skills

Negotiation

Collaboration

Presentation skills

Education

Experience in local government

Job description

Location: Home-based, with periodic travel to London and occasional travel nationally

Fixed term until 30 June 2026

About us

The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local authorities. We work on behalf of our member councils to support, promote and improve local government.

We are a politically led, cross-party organisation that works on behalf of councils to ensure local government has a strong, credible voice with national government. We influence and set the political agenda on the issues that matter to councils to help them deliver local solutions to national problems.

We also provide councils with the tools and resources to respond to challenges present and emerging, and support improvement across the sector.

We value diversity and encourage applications from all sections of the community to this high-profile role.

About the role

The LGA has been working with MHCLG to scope a new, fully funded support programme designed to provide capacity and capabilitysupport, at no cost, to councils seeking to establish, enhance, or accelerate their council housebuilding programmes.

This initiative forms part of the government’s commitment to deliver 1.5 million safe and decent homes during this parliament, supported by a generational increase in social and affordable housebuilding.

We’re at the beginning of this exciting journey and will be co-designing this new programme with councils. To make it happen, we’re building a brand new team to shape, test, and deliver this work.

This new team will sit within the LGA’s Partnerships & Improvement Directorate, alongside our other Place programmes: the Planning Advisory Service, One Public Estate, and the Joint Inspection Team.

Roles are offered on a full-time fixed term contract for one year, with opportunities for extension subject to further MHCLG funding.

The LGA is a member of the Local Government Pension Scheme.

Secondments are particularly welcomed – these roles offer excellent development opportunities and exposure to both local and national housing delivery work.

About you

If you’re passionate about social housing and want to help councils succeed, we’d love to hear from you. You’ll bring insight into council housing delivery, a solid understanding of local government, and a collaborative approach to working with public sector stakeholders.

All our roles require experience of a fast-paced working environment servicing multiple stakeholders, a collaborative mindset, and a continuous improvement mentality.

The Head of Programme should bring experience of leading a team and successful delivery of a complex work programme, ideally related to place (housing, regeneration etc)

You must have the right to work in the UK, the LGA are unfortunately unable to offer sponsorship visas. Evidence for the right to work in the UK will be requested at the interview stage.

To apply

If you would like to be considered for the role, please complete the online form and include a supporting statement detailing how you meet the criteria for the role before the closing date.

We are specifically assessing candidates against the following criteria:

1. Good understanding of local government, its roles structures, and relationships. Previous experience of working in or with a complex political environment, preferably in local or central government
2. Experience of leading a large programme of activity with an emphasis on housing/capital projects – this may be around housing development, regeneration, other land and property initiatives, or similar
3. Successful track record of designing, developing and delivering complex programmes
4. Strong influencing, negotiating and relation-building skills; confident and resilient with excellent people skills
5. Well-developed written and oral presentation skills with ability to present complex ideas in a clear and comprehensible way.
6. Able to establish and maintain team collaboration, and to utilise collaborative approaches to develop best practice, problem solve, and influence future approaches.

Closing Date:9am / Monday 14th July.

Interview Date:w/c 21st July and 28th July; interviews may be virtual or in-person.

We use anonymous recruitment, which is the practice of hiding candidates’ identities. This process involves removing any identifying information from candidates’ applications which includes names.

At the LGA we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. Our recruitment decisions are based on fair, open competition, with appointment on merit.

The LGA are proud to be awarded a “Disability Confident Leader”. Please contact us [e-mail] you requirea reasonable adjustment, which is a change to the format or conditions of the recruitment process to accommodate any disability-related needs you may have.

Our benefits:

• LGA annual leave entitlement is 29 days, rising to 31 days after three years’ service and to 33 days after five years’ service, plus all UK public holidays (pro rata for fixed term and part time contracts).*
• Flexible & agile working – office-based staff are required to work in the LGA’s London office two days per week as a minimum, subject to business need and this may vary significantly between different roles and from week to week.
• Future development – face-to-face and virtual courses are scheduled in line with developmental goals
• The LGA offers 24/7 access to a free, confidential employee assistance programme managed by Health Assured. This service is also available for Dependants.
• Family friendly policies

For more of LGA’s benefits and working with us, please view our webpage https://www.local.gov.uk/benefits-and-working-lga

Our values & behaviours

Our Values and Behaviours are there to give us an understanding of who we are as an organisation and who we want to be. They are a framework to help us understand:

• how we work with each other
• how we work with our members and stakeholders
• our expectations for ourselves and each other

Our values are:

• Collaboration –We value collaboration, to pursue shared goals by encouraging and utilising diverse perspectives and working with internal and external colleagues across the organisation.
• Inclusion –We value inclusion, where everyone feels valued, understood, and supported to contribute meaningfully.
• Ambition –We value ambition, reflecting our desire to achieve best possible outcomes for local government, communities, and individuals.
• Respect –We value respect, to ensure fairness, recognition, and shared accountability.