Recruitment Briefing Papers June 2017 Property People Strategy & Governance Finance
Recruitment Pack Contents Welcome letter 1 About Black Country Housing Group 2 The Board 3 Role profile 5 Terms and conditions 9 Recruitment timetable 9 How to apply 10 Appendix 1 11 Appendix 2 12
Welcome letter Dear Applicant, Thank you for your interest in the position of at Black Country Housing Group. We are a strong and successful housing association working with our local communities in Birmingham and the Black Country. Founded in 1974 we have an excellent reputation and high ambitions for our future. I am passionate about the services we offer and this is an exciting organisation to work with as we continually find new ways of delivering innovative service offers to our customers and those who live in our communities. We have a strong Board with a range of skills, and we want to ensure we plan for the future by bringing on board high calibre individuals who will enable us to sustain our G1/V1 rating from the HCA. Peter Bilson Current Chair of Black Country Housing Group As chair elect I would like to thank you for your interest as a potential board member at BCHG. I am currently privileged to be co-opted to the board in period of transition with my colleague, Chair of BCHG, Peter Bilson. I thoroughly endorse Peter's view that we are an exciting organisation to work with. We are also in an immensely challenging environment where good governance must drive our social aims. As a potential board member, this senior and prestigious position will demand a high level of commitment, skill and independence of mind. I believe this position will offer successful applicants the opportunity to contribute to a caring, growing and forward thinking organisation, whilst being supported to continually develop governance skills. Abi Robson Chair Elect of Black Country Housing Group Page 1
About Black Country Housing Group Black Country Housing Group (BCHG) is a registered housing provider working closely with the local communities in Birmingham and the Black Country. BCHG owns and manages 2,144 homes based in Birmingham and the Black Country for families, younger people, older residents and people with learning disabilities. As a housing and care business BCHG employs over 275 colleagues, which will increase further with the growth of our residential and domiciliary care business. BCHG has just launched its 2017-2020 Strategic Plan, setting ambitious plans for growth. We want to make a difference to the lives of people in our local areas through the services we provide. We are a well run and financially sound business rated G1/V1 by our regulator, and create a healthy surplus that supports our new development ambitions as well as providing us with the ability to have a healthy investment programme for our existing housing stock. Mission Our mission is: A social business investing in people and communities. Values The mission is support by 4 underlying organisational values: Integrity Positivity Respect Quality Opportunity BCHG is seeking high calibre individuals with strong financial and commercial skills and experience which are needed to support ambitions to grow our 18m turnover business. The Board comprises 8 s and the Chief Executive who is an executive member of the Board. BCHG s current Board Chair, Peter Bilson, will step down in September 2017 as this will be the end of his term of office, having been Chair for the last 6 years. He will be succeeded by Abi Robson who brings a wealth of housing sector experience from both local authority and her previous role as Chair for another local registered provider. Page 2
The Board The BCHG Board is made up of nine full members: Name and position Peter Bilson Chair Career background Peter has a wide range of experience in Local Government and is Deputy Leader of Wolverhampton City Council with Cabinet responsibilities for City Assets and Housing. Kevin Wright Deputy Chair Kevin has a range of experience from managing a private engineering company, specialising in lifts for the disabled to working for Birmingham Council in housing strategy. David Gutteridge Chair of Group Audit Committee David is retired and his background is in finance. Donald Sadler Board Member Donald is a qualified accountant and auditor with Big 4 experience of internal audit, risk management and governance across the public sector including Registered Providers. Nigel Foster Chair of BCS Associates Board and Quality Committee Adam Carey Board Member Nigel has been a commercial chartered surveyor for over 25 years. He is currently the Head of Property and Asset Management of Lambert Smith Hampton in Birmingham. Adam s experience includes senior political, private and public sector management roles, most recently as Head of Community Investment at Family Housing Association. Maureen Bradley Board Member Maureen has worked in care, support, housing associations and local government and was more recently Chief Executive for a housing provider which delivers a range of services to adults in need of social care and support. Page 3
Amanda Tomlinson Board Member Sarah Woolley Board Member Abi Robson Co-opted Board Member and Chair Elect Amanda is Chief Executive of Black Country Housing Group and the appointed Executive Board member. Amanda was Assistant Chief Executive prior to her appointment as CEO. Passionate about social housing and essential housing related services, Amanda is keen to ensure that Black Country Housing contributes to be much more than a local housing provider, supporting our local communities through the provision of a range of services creating social value. Sarah combines a career in advising healthcare organisations on safety and governance improvement with academic research on organisational safety. Previously, Sarah was the Executive Board Director at an NHS Foundation Trust leading on the Trust s quality, risk management and safety improvement agenda. Abigail is an experienced senior manager in local government in housing policy, practice and development. She was previously chair of Trident Social Investment Group. Her professional background is as a quantity surveyor. She is now carrying out academic research into creating value in construction supply chains. Page 4
Role profile Job Title: Remuneration: Term of Office: Time Commitment: 4,000 p.a. Up to two three-year terms, subject to annual appraisal Approximately 1-2 days per month Job Description Purpose of the role The Board is collectively responsible for ensuring the success of Black Country Housing Group through setting and monitoring the strategic direction of the organisation. It is also responsible for gaining assurance that the organisation complies with all legal and regulatory obligations. Day to day management is the responsibility of the Chief Executive and the Executive Team. Main Responsibilities Strategic Leadership: Contribute to setting a positive culture by promoting the vision, displaying BCHG s values, and ensuring the implementation of BCHG s objectives Ensure that obligations to stakeholders are understood and reflected in strategy and policies Promote continuous improvement, setting challenging targets for improving services Work with colleagues at a strategic level to establish strategies, policies and action plans to achieve BCHG s agreed objectives considering short, medium and long term timeframes Effective Governance: Contribute to the effective governance of the Group through membership of committees, panels or subsidiary boards as required Contribute to ensuring compliance with the Group s financial regulations, delegated authorities, the HCA regulatory framework, CQC regulation and the NHF Code of Governance. Scrutinise and review performance against agreed targets and budgets Build and maintain effective working relationships with the Chair, the Chief Executive, Page 5
Executive Team and senior colleagues, and other Board members Take part in reviews of governance effectiveness. This will include individual appraisals, collective appraisal and the Chair s appraisal Take part in events for all Board members and those agreed necessary for individual learning and development objectives; this will include induction Provide leadership on equality and diversity matters ensuring these are reflected in all that BCHG does Effective Meetings: Prepare for and attend all BCHG Board meetings except under exceptional circumstances making an active contribution to discussions and decision-making In the event of unavoidable absence from a meeting, provides comments and questions in advance on the relevant papers to the Chair Display high standards of integrity and respect confidentiality Keep up to date with sector matters Adding Value: Represent the organisation, as required, acting as an ambassador and upholding BCHG s reputation with external stakeholders, residents, and Regulators Network and promote the achievements, purposes and benefits of BCHG Page 6
Person Specification Knowledge and Experience Extensive experience of operating at a senior level (either executive or non-executive) within a customer focussed organisation Experience of operating as a with an understanding of good governance practice Successful track record of building and motivating senior teams to deliver a clear strategic vision Strategic experience in Finance and Risk in a commercial environment Understanding of strategic policy, the economic and operating environments within which BCHG operates Good understanding of change management Skills and abilities Excellent communication and interpersonal skills Demonstrate authority and credibility, generate a strong team spirit, work collaboratively and build consensus Strong strategic planning skills, able to develop strategic vision and encourage others to contribute Able to assess risk and promote risk awareness, without being risk averse Able to challenge appropriately and hold the Board and Executive to account IT literate comfortable with communicating by email and willing to support BCHG s aim of reducing the negative impact on the environment by using an electronic document storage system for Board papers and other documents Personal behaviour and style Actively leads by example, demonstrating the professional conduct expected of members of the Board of BCHG Being an ambassador for BCHG Demonstrates a strong commitment to equality and diversity Page 7
Listens to others and provides effective decision making when required Demonstrates credibility and integrity Supports the values, ethos and community objectives of BCHG Open to learning and development for the Board and Committee Members and colleagues Has the time and commitment to effectively discharge the responsibilities of the post of Page 8
Terms and conditions Remuneration The remuneration for the role is: 4,000 All reasonable expenses paid Commitment required The Board currently meets six to eight times a year plus any additional strategy days, awaydays, training events and ambassadorial duties. The maximum term of appointment is six years, with the requirement for re-election after the initial three years. s will be required to serve on one of the Board s supporting committees (Group Audit Committee, Quality Committee, Remuneration Committee, and Nominations Committee) and / or subsidiary Boards. Group Audit and Quality Committee meetings are held on a quarterly basis. Board and Committee meetings are usually held at Head Office, 134 High Street, Blackheath, B65 0EE; Board meetings are currently in the evening and Committee meetings in the morning, although they may be held at alternative times. Sufficient time should also be set aside to prepare for meetings, undertake learning and development and miscellaneous representative engagements. Induction All non-executive directors are required to take part in a full programme of induction and successful candidates should expect to commit to a minimum of 8 days for this. Additional information Additional information about BCHG is available on the association s web site http://www.bchg.co.uk/. Recruitment timetable Recruitment stage Date Closing date 16 th June 2017 Shortlisting 19 th June 2017 Invite candidates to interview 19 th June 2017 Final interviews 22 nd June 2017 Appointment to Board 28 th September 2017 Page 9
How to apply Please send an email to HR@bchg.co.uk attaching the following documentation (please save your files with your surname first, followed by your first name and a description of the file): A detailed CV including details of positions held (and dates), size of budgets and teams managed and key achievements A supporting statement explaining your motivation in applying for this position at Black Country Housing Group and also addressing how you meet the requirements of the person specification. Full contact details (name, job title, organisation, phone and email) for two referees (including your current employer if applicable). Please note we will not take up references without your prior permission Completed Recruitment Monitoring Form attached as reference at Appendix 1 of this recruitment pack The closing date for applications is: 12:00pm on Friday 16 th June 2017 Your application will be acknowledged and treated with strictest confidence. Page 10
Appendix 1 Diversity monitoring form Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form Black Country Housing Group is committed to Equal Opportunities in employment. All applicants for employment are asked to complete the following details. This information, which is used solely for monitoring purposes, will be treated as confidential and will be separated on receipt before consideration of applicants takes place. Full name Date Gender Male Female Date of birth Vacancy applied for Where did you see the vacancy advertised Do you consider yourself to have a mental or physical disability which has substantial and long term adverse effect upon your ability to carry out normal day to day activities? Yes No If yes, please give brief details, and any facilities or provision you require for attending the interview. Ethnic Origin - Please tick the box which you feel best describes your ethnic origin WHITE MIXED/MULTIPLE ETHNIC GROUPS British White and Black Caribbean Irish White and Black African Gypsy or traveller White and Asian Any other white background Any other Mixed/multiple ethnic background ASIAN/ASIAN BRITISH Indian Pakistani Bangladeshi Chinese Any other Asian background OTHER ETHNIC GROUP Arab Any other ethnic group BLACK/AFRICAN BACKGROUND African Caribbean Any other Black/African/Caribbean Background PREFER NOT TO SAY Religion Please tick a box which you feel best describes your religion None Hindu Sikh Christian (All Jewish Any other religion denominations) Buddhist Muslim Prefer not to say Sexual Orientation Please tick a box which you feel describes your sexual orientation Heterosexual Gay Woman Other Gay Man Bisexual Prefer not to say Page 11
Appendix 2 Recruitment Advertisement Black Country Housing Group Blackheath, West Midlands 4,000 per annum Black Country Housing Group (BCHG) is a registered housing provider working closely with the local communities in Birmingham and the Black Country. BCHG owns and manages 2,144 homes based in Birmingham and the Black Country for families, younger people, older residents and people with learning disabilities. As a housing and care business BCHG employs over 275 colleagues, which will increase further with the growth of our residential and domiciliary care business. BCHG has just launched its 2017-2020 Strategic Plan, setting ambitious plans for growth. We are now seeking new s to help us build on our achievements to date; to lead and inspire the Group through the challenges we face from our external environment, and to ensure we deliver on our vision and strategic plan. Strong leadership and strategic thinking skills are essential along with the ability to analyse complex data and influence effectively at all levels. With strong ambassadorial skills you will be comfortable engaging with a wide range of stakeholders ensuring that our organisation is effectively promoted. We are particularly looking for individuals with a finance or commercial background. You can download our application pack here. The closing date for applications is 12:00pm on Friday 16 th June 2017. Page 12