Strategic Lead - Accommodation Finding Service

Birmingham City Council is seeking an ambitious and commercially minded Strategic Lead - Accommodation Finding Service to lead the development and delivery of innovative housing solutions that help prevent and relieve homelessness across the city. This is a pivotal leadership role within the Housing Solution & Support Service, responsible for growing and diversifying housing supply through strong partnerships with private landlords, housing providers and key stakeholders. You will lead a dedicated team focused on sourcing suitable accommodation, developing property portfolios and creating sustainable housing pathways for residents facing homelessness. Working closely with senior leaders across Housing Services, you will shape strategy, influence policy, and drive service improvements that directly support Birmingham's homelessness prevention agenda. What You'll Be Doing

• Leading the day-to-day operation and strategic development of the Accommodation Finding Service.
• Driving growth in private rented sector and alternative housing options to increase accommodation supply.
• Developing and maintaining strong partnerships with landlords, housing associations and housing providers.
• Leading the development of property sourcing, matching and inspection processes to ensure accommodation is suitable and compliant.
• Using market intelligence, performance data and research to identify new housing opportunities and improve service outcomes.
• Managing budgets, resources and service performance to deliver value for money and achieve key targets.
• Providing strategic leadership, coaching and support to a high-performing team while deputising for the Head of Service when required.
  
  We are looking for a strategic leader with strong commercial awareness and a track record of delivering growth, partnerships and service improvement., Significant senior leadership experience within sales, business development, housing, property or a related environment.
• A proven track record of achieving ambitious performance targets and delivering measurable business growth.
• Strong experience of developing and managing effective partnerships with a wide range of stakeholders.
• Excellent negotiation, influencing and relationship management skills.
• Experience of leading teams, managing performance and driving continuous improvement.
• Knowledge of housing, homelessness or private rented sector legislation and practice.
• The ability to analyse complex information and translate it into practical solutions, business cases and strategic plans.
Person Specification Highlights Successful candidates will demonstrate:
• Degree-level qualification or equivalent substantial professional experience.
• Strong commercial, sales, marketing or business development expertise.
• Experience managing complex services, budgets and resources.
• Excellent leadership, project management and change management skills.
• Experience presenting complex information to senior stakeholders.
• A commitment to delivering excellent customer outcomes and preventing homelessness.
• Alignment with Birmingham City Council's values and behaviours.
  
  This is an opportunity to play a leading role in one of the largest local authorities in Europe and make a meaningful difference to the lives of Birmingham residents.
You'll have the opportunity to:
• Shape the future of homelessness prevention and housing supply across the city.
• Lead innovative programmes that directly improve outcomes for vulnerable households.
• Influence strategic decision-making at a senior level across the Council and partner organisations.
• Build and develop strong partnerships across the housing sector.
• Lead a service with significant scope for growth, innovation and transformation.
• Work alongside passionate colleagues committed to delivering excellent public services.
• Develop your career within a large, diverse and ambitious organisation.
Please upload your up-to-date CV via the attachments part of your application, this is required for shortlisting. Unfortunately, we cannot consider any applications without a CV attached 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., Working for Birmingham City Council is more than just a job; it's about making life better for the 1 million plus people who live and work in the city., The Council is a fantastic place to work. You will find an organisation that is both challenging and supportive; with a leadership impatiently adventurous in its pursuit of excellence. There is a clear vision which is ensuring that the Council is working for communities today and building for tomorrow, we focus our resources on five key 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.
We see the Council's role as providing strategic leadership - that's being able to visualise a new future for the city and equipping others to share our vision. We want to ensure the provision of services for all, so we can support those least able to support themselves by working with partners and putting citizens and neighbourhoods at the heart of our decision-making. We are always looking for people who put the customer at the centre of their approach, with a commitment to excellence to help us achieve our vision. We will support you to develop and thrive in your role, building a pathway for long-term success, with lots of development opportunities, such as apprenticeships.

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.