Housing Support Manager

Kāinga Ora - Homes and Communities; Christchurch; Hybrid; NZD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

5 weeks annual leave

Permanent position

Flexible work options

Job summary

Kāinga Ora - Homes and Communities is seeking a Housing Support Manager in Christchurch. You will manage a portfolio of customers, building lasting relationships to meet housing and wellbeing needs.

The role involves supporting low to medium needs clients, handling rent arrears, and engaging with stakeholders to ensure continuous, tailored support. You will travel around the local area to visit homes and attend meetings, with a focus on transforming communities through compassionate, effective

Qualifications

• Must be able to build strong relationships with customers from diverse backgrounds.
• Capable of de-escalating highly emotional situations and conversations.
• Experience with rent arrears and debt recovery helpful.

Responsibilities

• Support customers and whānau to achieve housing and social stability.
• Visit customers at Kāinga Ora homes and attend stakeholder meetings as needed.
• Manage rent arrears and debt recovery; provide tailored support to meet changing needs.

Skills

Relationship-building

De-escalation

Rent arrears

Debt recovery

Tech savvy

Tenancy knowledge

Team collaboration

Residential Tenancy Act knowledge

Job description

• Support customers and whānau to achieve housing and social stability
• Build meaningful relationships and make a lasting impact in your community
• Permanent opportunity based in Christchurch with 5 weeks' annual leave + other benefits

As Housing Support Manager, you will work directly with a portfolio of our customers and their whānau, building enriching and enduring relationships to ensure customers' housing and wellbeing needs are being met and continue to be met as they change over time.

You will be supporting some of our low and medium needs customers and manage some disruptive behaviour situations as well. You will be skilled in holding difficult and courageous conversations with our customers and stakeholders when the situation demands.

You will visit our customers at their Kāinga Ora homes and, from time to time, attend meetings with key stakeholders to ensure tailored support and services stay in place for our customers and their whānau.

You will also be required to work with our tenants on rent arrears and debt collection/recovery.

If you have the ability to build strong relationships, have courageous conversations and a genuine desire to transform our communities, then we would love to hear from you.

Here's what you will bring to the role:

• You'll be a natural relationship-builder, relating to customers from all backgrounds and all walks of life
• You'll be skilled at de-escalating highly emotional situations and conversations, with the ability to problem solve and understand the reasons behind customer issues
• You'll be comfortable and skilled to work on rent arrears and debt recovery
• You'll be technically savvy and able to quickly learn new tools and systems
• Experience in tenancy, emergency or social housing space will be an added advantage
• You'll have the ability to work collaboratively in a busy, high performing team
• It will be an added advantage if you have knowledge of the Residential Tenancy Act.

We need people who care as much as we do and are passionate about supporting customers who may have challenging housing and wellbeing needs.Your cultural awareness will foster an aligned approach to our customers' aspirations and preferences, particularly in working with Māori and Pasifika.

As this role requires travelling around the local area, you will have a current, full clean NZ's driver's licence (pool vehicle provided).

As a Kāinga Ora - Homes and Communities employee, we want to make sure you have all the tools and support you need. We want to ensure you are healthy and have work-life balance. We also want to support and grow your personal and career development through on-the-job learning, training courses, secondments and study opportunities.

At Kāinga Ora, our mahi sits at the heart of Aotearoa’s housing system. Every day, we help shape how our customers live today and into the future. It’s meaningful mahi, and we’re transforming how we work so we can deliver even better outcomes.

Our transformation focuses on three things:

• Our future – building a high performing organisation that delivers quality housing for generations
• Our tenants – warm, dry, well-maintained homes and the right support to help people live well
• Our people – simple processes, modern technology and opportunities to learn, grow and thrive.

Guided by our values, we work together, put customers at the centre and continually challenge ourselves to be better.

Kāinga Ora is a place where people feel valued and supported. You’ll find opportunities to grow your skills and build a career you’re proud of, with fair pay and flexible ways of working that support both our people and our customers.

Our values were developed by us, for us. They unite us as an organisation and guide how we work every day. Our values are:

• Manaakitanga – People at the Heart
• Whanake – Be Bold

If you have any questions about this role, please contact [e-mail].

Applications close on Sunday 11 October 2026 at 11:55pm. we may review and interview applicants as they are received and reserve the right to close advertising early.

As part of our commitment to supporting employees through organisational change, affected Kāinga Ora employees will be considered for vacancies in the first instance.

We value diversity and are committed to working with each other and our customers in an inclusive and respectful way. We welcome applicants from all walks of life and appreciate the richness of experience that your point of difference brings to the organisation.

Reference # 80470

Closes on 11 Oct 2026 23:55

Location(s) Christchurch

Expertise Case Management, Social or Community Welfare, Debt Management, Tenancy Management