Department: Housing Services Location: Aberdeen. Hours: Prepared by: LHA Date: March Organisational Position Immediate

Transcription

1 Job Description 1. Job Identification Job Tit le: Housing Services Manager Jobholder: Department: Housing Services Location: Aberdeen Permanent/ Permanent Weekly 35 Fixed-Term Hours: Prepared by: LHA Date: March Organisational Position Immediate Line: Supervisor(s) Function: Immediate Subordinates (specify job titles and number of posts) Director of Housing and Social Justice Housing Services Team Leaders x 3 Team Leader Rent Management Team Leader Allocations and Estate Management Team Leader Elgin Senior Housing officer 3. Overall Purpose of Job (state briefly why the job exists) To assist the Director of Housing and Social Justice in providing an efficient and effective Housing Service. To manage 3 Team Leaders and 1 Senior officer in the operation of their day to day work. 4. Principal Responsibilities (refer to extent of travel if required) 1. Service delivery to manage an efficient and effective Housing Service ensuring a professional delivery of service to tenants and customers. 2. Collaboration to develop and foster relationships across the Association in pursuit of continuous improvement of the service and to the benefit of the Association and service users. 3. Partnership Working to develop and maintain formal relationships with statutory, voluntary and public sector agencies and our peer group in order to achieve the Association s aims and business objectives. 4. Performance Monitoring to understand and evaluate service performance in relation to the standards and targets required. To implement action plans in order to improve service performance including and in particular the areas of voids and rent management. 5. To ensure that income to the Association is maximised through efficient income collection and void management. 6. Proactive Team Management to manage, coach and guide Housing Services staff. To regularly carry out supervision sessions and appraisals with the Senior Officers and ensure they in turn conduct supervision sessions and appraisals with the Team Leaders and teams. 7. Benchmarking to ensure benchmarking results inform service review and development. 8. Reporting to prepare reports in order to evaluate and improve performance. Provision of reports to the Director of Housing and Social Justice, Committee, Middle and Senior Management Teams and external agencies as required. S:\ Human Resources\Recruitment\2015\Housing Services Manager\Housing Services Manager Job Description doc 1

2 Report and monitor on monthly performance reports, quarterly committee reports and the Annual Performance and Statistical Returns to the Scottish Housing Regulator. 9. Representation to represent the Association at relevant local and national fora and professional bodies as required. 10. Customer Focus To place a strong customer focus in all service delivery. 11. To carry out all duties of this post in accordance with the relevant Association policies and procedures including Equal Opportunities Policy, Data Protection and Health and Safety. 5. Job Activities (provide examples of main activities completed to achieve outputs detailed in section 4 above) Managing Employees Allocating work duties, managing the teams in the undertaking of their day to day duties and to carry out designated tasks in the absence of Team Leaders. Coaching and mentoring staff and undertaking performance appraisals and one-to-one meetings as means of identifying staff training / development needs and managing performance. Managing absence by updating relevant records, approving requests / timesheets (annual leave / flexi leave) and completing return to work forms (sickness absence) as required. Short-listing candidates, undertaking interviews and making candidate selection recommendations as and when required. Providing and / or organising training for both new and existing employees as and when required. Conducting disciplinary investigations and managing grievances as and when required. Providing clear management and leadership to the Housing Services Team including awareness of legislative matters and good practice. Encouraging participation from the team members to the improvement and ownership of service delivery. Financial Resources Operational responsibility for handling and processing payments received from tenants / debt agencies as payment towards rent, arrears or sundry debts. Operational responsibility for gathering and monitoring the use and disposal of tenants bank account / credit card / debit card details for CALLPAY or direct debits. Signing and approving staff flexi-sheets and expense claims on a monthly basis. Operational responsibility for monitoring and managing the Associations Budget for the Costs associated with the undertaking of legal action in the pursuance of tenancy enforcement. Authorisation of invoices and work instructions in excess of the authorisation levels of the Senior Officers. Authorisation to raise orders for values up to 5000 and to approve invoice payments to the value of Budget of 50,000. To set up and monitor and review service contracts. To ensure all invoices for housing services are processed and authorised in accordance with the Association s delegated authorities. Information Resources Accessing a variety of web based sources / intranet in order to keep up to date on current policies, procedures and develop best practice: S:\ Human Resources\Recruitment\2015\Housing Services Manager\Housing Services Manager Job Description doc 2

3 Creating and updating operational procedures and action plans as and when required. Accessing IT database to allocate work tasks to the team, reviewing and updating case(s) progress and running reports. Creating, distributing and filing word documents to tenants in respect of rent arrears, reports to Committees and staff appraisal documents. Development and operation of the account management system and the online application and allocation system. Association representative on the Apply4homes Moray and Aberdeenshire Common application Register and the development and integration of the associated IT system. Word processing and data inputting to create / update / delete new files and reports to committees, senior management etc. Accessing outlook to access information and provide information to others (internal departments and external parties) To promote the continuous development of the IT system through support to the Module Leader. Physical Resources Operational responsibility for document management. Operational responsibility for the stationery in relation to the Apply4 Homes system and House Exchange. Shared operational responsibility for Emergency Alarm System. Personal organisation equipment includes mobile phone, ipad, desktop PC & phone. 6. Relationships with Others (specify principal contacts, both internal and external, excluding supervisor(s) and subordinate(s) and explain the purpose of this interaction). Internal: Internal Departments: To share information, offer expertise where appropriate. Liaison with other Service Managers. Management Team: To research issues, prepare reports and share information and attend monthly meetings of the Departmental Management Team, Middle Mangers and the Joint Middle Managers and Senior Management Team. Through these meetings feed into the development of the Association s Annual Business Plan. Committees: To prepare reports as requested. External: Tenants/ Customers: To provide information and advice and ensure that customer service delivery and systems meet desired standards. Manage and resolve conflict and support staff in the dealing with difficult situations. Local Authorities and RSLs: To share information, attend and schedule meetings and work collaboratively identifying areas of joint working and service improvement. Support Agencies : To arrange and/or attend meetings, share information in order to continue to develop working relationships that support tenants / access to housing. Participate as required at case conferences and other multi agency working groups to the benefit of applicants and tenants of the Association. SFHA and CIH: To participate in meetings / events in order to raise the profile of the Association S:\ Human Resources\Recruitment\2015\Housing Services Manager\Housing Services Manager Job Description doc 3

4 nationally and share best practice. Contractors and Consultants: To attend meetings and liaise in respect of relevant business and to set up, monitor, and review Service Contracts as appropriate. 7. Level of Decision-Making/ Supervision required (Detail decisions the jobholder is authorised to take and specify any relevant dimensions e.g. monetary values). Review and decide on appropriate action, including legal remedies to take against tenant in breach of their tenancy agreements. To decide upon alternative working practices and procedural amendments including the re-allocation of staffing duties within teams as required. Authorisation of budget expenditure of values up to 5000 and authorising invoices up to Postponement of evictions. Staff dispute resolutions including the recommendation of appropriate action. Authorisation of annual leave and flexi leave for Senior Officers Approval of expenses claims for all staff within the teams. Approval of the use of Master Keys. Representation and decision making on behalf of the Association at External Meetings. Decisions referred to Director of Housing and Social Justice. - Eviction approvals and cancellations. - Financial authorisations exceeding designated authority levels. - Management Transfers - Target amendments. - Creation of new posts. 8. Organisation/ Planning (specify activities and or plans the jobholder is required organise or formulate) To plan, monitor and manage team work-plans in line with targets set and development of new initiatives. To prioritise own workload and that of team delegating effectively to ensure workload is completed to a high standard. To plan staffing and resource allocation in relation to key project dates throughout the year (e.g. rent increase, rent consultation, newsletters, tenant and rent surveys). To plan staffing levels within the Your Call Team to ensure adequate cover, organising additional resources as required. To consult and / or participate in the creation of the annual business plan, arrears and Your Call action plans, SHR improvement plan, Risk Management plan and Tenant Satisfaction Survey Action plan. To implement and review Policy and associated procedures to ensure they remain proactive and effective in the day to day operation of work across the Housing Services Team. To inform the Annual Budget for Housing Services This Job Description is intended to provide a general statement of the major tasks and activities of the job. It is not an exhaustive list of all its detailed duties. As a term of your employment you will undertake such other duties as may reasonably be required of you and that are broadly consistent with the job. Job Description Agreement Jobholder: Line Manager: Date: Date: S:\ Human Resources\Recruitment\2015\Housing Services Manager\Housing Services Manager Job Description doc 4

5 PERSON SPECIFICATION CRITERIA ESSENTIAL DESIRABLE Qualification/ Training Experience Skills/ Knowledge Educated to degree level or an equivalent housing related qualification. Full clean Driving Licence. Proven successful track record in Housing Management. Minimum of 3 years line management responsibility. Extensive experience of working in a continuous improvement environment. In-depth knowledge of housing legislation. Knowledge of the national housing agenda. Intermediate IT skills and working knowledge of Office based IT packages. Time management and prioritisation skills Excellent communication skills (both written and oral), including the ability to adapt communication style/methods to target audience. Highly developed analytical, numeracy, literacy and problem solving skills. Chart ered Membership of the Chartered Institute of Housing (or affiliation to equivalent professional organisation). Personal Qualities Performance and person focused. Motivation and enthusiasm. Understanding and appreciation of customer care. Team player Ability to work under pressure S:\ Human Resources\Recruitment\2015\Housing Services Manager\Housing Services Manager Job Description doc 5