Housing Options Team Leader (maternity cover)

Are you an experienced housing professional ready to take the next step in your leadership career? Do you thrive in a fast-paced, customer-focused environment where you can make real decisions that change people’s lives?

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council is looking for a Housing Options Team Leader to provide maternity cover within our Housing Services team. This is a key leadership role, overseeing frontline homelessness prevention and relief work and ensuring the Council meets its statutory duties. This is a 12 month fixed term contract.

About the Role

As Housing Options Team Leader, you will:

• Line manage and support a team of Housing Options Advisors, including case audits, one-to-ones, appraisals and performance monitoring
• Oversee complex homelessness prevention and relief cases, carrying a small caseload yourself
• Ensure all statutory homelessness decisions and correspondence are legally sound and robust
• Authorise temporary accommodation, prevention loans and review requests
• Support service development, early intervention initiatives and the reduction of temporary accommodation use
• Build strong working relationships with internal teams, partner agencies, landlords and voluntary organisations
• Participate in an out-of-hours on-call rota and support the Council’s Emergency Plan when required

This is a hands-on role requiring sound judgement, resilience and the confidence to make and stand by difficult decisions.

About You

We are looking for someone who:

• Has substantial experience (minimum 5 years) in housing options, homelessness advice or prevention
• Has experience working in a front-line, customer-led service, particularly with vulnerable clients
• Has strong knowledge of homelessness legislation, including the Housing Act 1996, Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, and related case law
• Is confident, assertive and professional in representing the Council
• Has line management or supervisory experience, with the ability to motivate and support staff
• Is organised, proactive and able to manage competing priorities
• Is an excellent communicator with strong negotiation and decision-making skills

A professional housing or leadership qualification (or working towards one) is desirable.

This post is subject to a satisfactory a basic DBS check

What we offer:

• Financial: An attractive basic salary within a clear pay structure
• Holiday Entitlement: 26 days annual leave (increasing to 29 days after 5 years continuous Local Government service) plus three additional days in December and bank holidays.
• Pensions: Membership of the Local Government (CARE – Career Average (Revalued Earnings) Pension Scheme – Employer contribution of 19.7%.
• Hybrid: This role has the potential for hybrid working to be discussed following the completion of the probation period.
• Access to HAPI an all‑in‑one benefits hub, giving you easy access to a wide range of employee perks, wellbeing support, discounts, and everyday savings.
• Personal Development: Invaluable training opportunities for continuing professional development.
• Employee Assistance Programme: The Council has partnered with Health Assured to provide staff with access to EAP (Employee Assistance Programme) to assist in balancing everyday life with the requirement of work and home.
• To learn more about working at Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, explore the kind of place we are, work that matters with people who care, and our pay, benefits, and hybrid working.

If you are interested in this opportunity and would like to have a chat to discuss in more detail, please call the hiring manager Matt Muddell on 01892 554 496 or email at matt.muddell@tunbridgewells.gov.uk

Equal Opportunities

Tunbridge Wells – Working for Equality. We welcome applications from all sections of the community.

Safeguarding

The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employee and volunteers to share this commitment.