Assistant Director- Housing Strategy, Insight and Improvement

Why Southwark?

Do you want to shape the future of housing services in one of London's largest and most ambitious local authorities?

Can you use your strategic leadership, housing expertise and passion for data-driven improvement to influence outcomes for thousands of residents?

Does the opportunity to lead housing strategy, insight, transformation and performance across a complex and high-profile environment excite you?

If so, we have the perfect role for you.

Southwark Council is seeking an exceptional Assistant Director of Housing Strategy, Insight and Improvement to join our senior leadership team within Housing Needs and Support. This is a pivotal leadership role that will drive strategic direction, service transformation, performance improvement and evidence-based decision making across our housing services.

Working at the heart of the council's housing agenda, you will play a critical role in delivering our ambitions as set out in the Good Landlord Plan, ensuring residents receive high-quality, responsive and continually improving services.

What You'll Be Doing

As Assistant Director, you will lead multidisciplinary teams responsible for housing strategy, policy, performance, governance, data, insight and service improvement.

You will provide strategic leadership and expert advice to senior officers, elected members and partners, shaping the future of housing services in response to changing legislation, housing demand and resident needs.

Key responsibilities include:

• Leading the development and delivery of Southwark's Housing Strategy, Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy and related housing policies.
• Driving transformation and continuous improvement programmes across housing services.
• Leading the Housing Data and Insight function, ensuring high-quality performance reporting, analytics and business intelligence.
• Embedding a culture of evidence-based decision making, accountability and outcome-focused service delivery.
• Providing strategic advice on housing demand, market trends, supply challenges, risks and opportunities.
• Ensuring strong governance, compliance, statutory reporting and inspection readiness.
• Building influential partnerships with residents, health partners, registered providers, government bodies, voluntary organisations and wider stakeholders.
• Championing innovation and modern approaches, including the use of emerging technologies, data analytics and digital transformation.
• Leading senior managers and developing high-performing teams that deliver excellent outcomes for residents.

What We're Looking For:

We're looking for an inspirational and politically astute housing leader who combines strategic thinking with a strong track record of delivery.

You will bring:

• Extensive senior leadership experience within housing, strategy, policy, insight or transformation functions.
• In-depth understanding of the housing sector, local government and the regulatory environment.
• Experience leading high-performing strategy, performance, data and insight services within a complex organisation.
• Strong knowledge of housing policy, homelessness, housing needs and service improvement.
• Expertise in data governance, performance management, business intelligence and evidence-led decision making.
• A proven ability to influence senior leaders, elected members and external partners.
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills, with experience producing reports and presenting complex information to varied audiences.
• Experience of leading organisational change, transformation and innovation programmes.
• A commitment to customer-focused service delivery, equality, inclusion and continuous improvement.
• Curiosity about emerging technologies, machine learning and advanced analytics, and how these can support public services.

Contact Information

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Candida Thompson at Candida.Thompson@southwark.gov.uk.

Additional Information:

• Grade 16
• Full-time, 36 hours per week
• Permanent position
• Basic DBS check required.
• Based within Housing Needs and Support
• Senior leadership role reporting to the Director of Housing Needs and Support
• Responsible for leading 3 direct reports and overseeing approximately 25 indirect staff
• Oversight of staffing budgets of approximately £1.9m and project budgets of approximately £7.5m
• Politically Restricted Post under the Local Government and Housing Act 1989
• Occasional evening and off-site working may be required to meet service needs

Benefits and more information

https://jobs.southwark.gov.uk/why-us/

Recruitment Timeline

Advert go live: 24 August 2026

Advert close date: 11:59pm on 14 September 2026

Shortlisting: TBC

Interviews: TBC

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. We strongly advise you to complete your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

We are an organisation that is passionate about our people and understands that richness of diversity is a requirement to provide the best possible services to our communities. This is demonstrated through our council-wide ambitious commitment to tackle racial inequality in our communities and workforce through our Southwark Stands Together initiative. We particularly welcome applications from members of Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities to increase representation at senior management level in the Council.

Southwark Council will only contact candidates through official Council recruitment channels. We will not ask you to provide passport details, proof of address, National Insurance number, bank details or payment at application stage. These checks are only requested at the onboarding process, once an offer of employment has been made. If you're unsure whether a communication you've received is genuine, please contact the Resourcing team directly on recruitment@southwark.gov.uk before sharing any personal information.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme

As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role and identify with one of the following:

• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• People who are currently in care or have previously been in care
• Disabled people and those with a long-term health condition

#LI-PC1

Attachments

• Job Description Housing StratInsight and Improvement AD FINAL.docx