Head of Service

Birmingham City Council; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

A local council agency in Birmingham seeks a Head of Service for Temporary Accommodation. This leadership role involves managing a substantial budget and a large workforce to improve housing outcomes and meet diverse community needs amid rising homelessness. Ideal candidates will demonstrate a strong background in housing management and a commitment to equity and service improvement.

Benefits

Generous annual leave

Pension scheme

Well-being support

Annual travel passes and discounts

Qualifications

• Successful track record in homelessness or housing sector.
• Experience in leading diverse teams.
• Proven ability to deliver complex housing projects.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage temporary accommodation service.
• Drive service improvement and budget management.
• Collaborate with partners for integrated housing solutions.

Skills

Senior-level leadership in housing

Team building and high-performance culture

Stakeholder partnership skills

Complex project delivery

Tenancy and property asset management

Risk management understanding

Commitment to diversity

Job description

We are seeking a strategic, ambitious, and forward‑thinking Head of Service – Temporary Accommodation to lead a high‑impact service that plays a vital role in supporting Birmingham’s most vulnerable households. This is a critical leadership role, responsible for driving service improvement and delivering transformative housing outcomes across the city, including:

• Managing a £50m+ gross budget and leading 150+ staff.
• Ensuring temporary accommodation is safe, compliant, and fit for purpose.
• Ending the use of B&B for families staying over 6 weeks, a key measure of success.
• Delivering customer‑focused support that enables successful move‑on into secure housing.
• Leading procurement and contract management of accommodation providers.
• Driving performance improvement and value for money across the service.
• Collaborating with internal and external partners to deliver integrated housing solutions.

You will play a pivotal role in reshaping our operating model to meet new challenges, including:

• A 22% rise in homelessness presentations in 2023/24 that hasn’t reduced.
• Over 5,500 households currently in temporary accommodation.
• Over 500 families with dependents in B&B for more than 6 weeks.

We encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the communities we serve. Our data tells us that for this level of role, ethnic minorities are underrepresented and therefore we will use positive action to support us to achieve diverse shortlists. This may mean that recruitment times are a little longer, but we think this is worth it to achieve our aim.

Birmingham City Council is an accredited Disability Confident Leader employer, and we are committed to employing, retaining and developing all of our people. We want to ensure your recruitment journey with us is a positive and equitable one, so please let us know if there are any reasonable adjustments, additional support, accessibility needs, or if there is any way in which we can support you through your application. We are dedicated to supporting internal mobility and the development of our people. As such, applications from internal employees and those under S118 will be given priority and reviewed before external applications are considered. We welcome applications from people with caring responsibilities and flexible working options will be considered. A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check will be undertaken. Proof of Right to work in the UK will be required for all applicants in accordance with UK Home Office requirements, before any employment offer can be confirmed.

Qualifications

• A successful track record at senior level within the homelessness or housing sector.
• Experience leading large, diverse teams and building a high‑performance culture.
• Strong partnership working skills with stakeholders including elected members, government departments, contractors, and support agencies.
• Proven ability to deliver complex housing projects and service transformation.
• Expertise in tenancy management, property asset management, and contract negotiation.
• A thorough understanding of risk management, health and safety and safeguarding.
• A commitment to equality, diversity, and improving customer experience.

Key Attributes

• An empowering and collaborative leadership style.
• Passion for delivering exceptional housing services.
• Ability to build business cases for investment and drive performance.
• Experience in commissioning, procurement, and contract management.
• Political awareness and excellent communication skills.

If you are looking for your next challenge and have the passion and drive to deliver the very best temporary accommodation provision and have the ability to ensure the best housing outcomes are delivered to vulnerable citizens, then this is the job for you.

Birmingham is a city with bold ambitions. As Europe’s youngest major city and one of the most diverse, we are committed to building a fairer, greener, and healthier city where everyone can thrive. Our Corporate Plan 2025‑2028 places housing at the heart of this vision, with a strong focus on tackling inequality, improving housing standards, and preventing homelessness. The Temporary Accommodation Strategy (2023‑2028) plays a vital role in achieving these priorities.

It sets out a clear direction to reduce reliance on Bed & Breakfast accommodation, enhance the quality of support for homeless households, and expand access to affordable housing. Despite financial pressures and rising homelessness demand, Birmingham remains firmly committed to shifting from reactive crisis management to a proactive, prevention‑led approach by addressing the root causes of homelessness, strengthening partnerships, commissioning effective prevention tools, and securing housing solutions that meet the diverse needs of our citizens.

Council Priorities

• A Prosperous Birmingham: through a focus on inclusive economic growth, tackling unemployment, attracting inward investment, and maximising the benefits of the Commonwealth Games.
• An Inclusive Birmingham: through a focus on tackling poverty and inequality, empowering citizens, promoting diversity and civic pride, and supporting and enabling all children and young people to thrive.
• A Safe Birmingham: through a focus on making the city safer, safeguarding vulnerable citizens, increasing affordable housing, and tackling homelessness.
• A Healthy Birmingham: through a focus on tackling health inequalities, encouraging physical activity and healthy living, supporting mental health, and improving outcomes for adults with disabilities and older people.
• A Green Birmingham: through a focus on street cleanliness, improving air quality, continuing the route to net zero, and becoming a city of nature.

In return, we offer you excellent terms and conditions, generous annual leave, a great pension scheme, well‑being support, annual travel passes and discounts at a number of city centre establishments.