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Why Southwark?

Are you ready to lead a service that sits at the heart of some of the most complex housing challenges facing London today?

Do you have the leadership experience and ambition to shape decisions that directly impact residents’ lives and deliver fair, sustainable housing outcomes?

If yes, we have a great opportunity for you!

Southwark Council is seeking an experienced and driven housing leader to become our next Housing Applications and Assessment Service Manager.

This is an exciting opportunity to lead a critical frontline service, influence strategic direction and ensure residents receive a service that is fair, legally robust and focused on achieving the best possible outcomes.

About the Role:

Working in one of London’s most dynamic and high-profile housing environments, you will lead a complex, high-volume Housing Applications and Assessment Service, with responsibility for housing register applications, homelessness assessments, reviews and tenancy-related matters.

You will play a key role in ensuring statutory decisions are delivered to the highest standards, reducing legal risk through evidence-based decision making and embedding a culture of quality, accountability and continuous improvement.

Southwark is a borough of ambition, diversity and significant housing complexity. With a strong commitment to prevention, fairness and improving outcomes for residents, this role provides an opportunity to influence service delivery at scale and make a visible difference to communities across the borough.

As Service Manager, you will be at the centre of this agenda - shaping policy, driving innovation and using data and insight to improve services, strengthen decision making, and enhance the resident experience.

You will work across organisational boundaries, building effective partnerships with internal services, registered providers and external stakeholders to deliver a coordinated and effective response to housing need.

What You'll Be Doing

As Housing Applications and Assessment Service Manager, you will:

• Lead and inspire a complex, high-volume housing applications and assessment service, ensuring residents receive timely, consistent and legally sound decisions.
• Provide strategic and operational leadership across multi-disciplinary teams covering assessments, reviews and tenancy relations, creating a culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement.
• Ensure statutory housing decisions are fair, evidence-based, legally compliant and defensible, reducing risk and maintaining robust processes under housing legislation.
• Drive performance management and quality assurance frameworks, using data and intelligence to identify improvements, manage risk and deliver better outcomes for residents.
• Lead service transformation, policy development and improvement initiatives that support Southwark’s wider housing and homelessness priorities.
• Oversee complex casework, complaints, legal challenges and member enquiries, ensuring responses are clear, timely and focused on achieving positive resident outcomes.
• Build strong relationships with internal and external partners, representing the council confidently and ensuring a joined-up approach to meeting housing need.
• Provide strategic insight and leadership on statutory housing matters, contributing to wider organisational priorities and deputising for senior leaders when required.

What We're Looking For

We are looking for an accomplished housing leader with significant experience of delivering high-quality services within homelessness, allocations and statutory housing assessments.

You will bring:

• A strong understanding of housing legislation, statutory duties and the complexities of delivering legally robust housing decisions.
• Proven experience of leading and motivating multi-disciplinary teams within a challenging frontline environment.
• The confidence and judgement to make complex, high-risk decisions, ensuring outcomes are fair, evidence-based and defensible.
• Strong performance management and service improvement experience, with the ability to use data and insight to drive meaningful change.
• Excellent communication and partnership skills, with the ability to engage effectively with senior stakeholders, elected members, residents and external organisations.
• Experience managing complex casework, complaints and legal challenges while maintaining a strong focus on service quality and resident experience.
• A strategic mindset, with the ability to influence policy, shape future service delivery and contribute to wider housing priorities.

Most importantly, you will be a passionate and resilient leader who understands the impact housing services have on people’s lives and is committed to delivering fair, effective and resident-focused services.

For detailed qualifications and requirements, please review the job description and person specification located at the bottom of the advert.

Contact Information:

To arrange an informal discussion about the role, please contact our dedicating Housing Needs inbox via email at HNASapplications@southwark.gov.uk

Additional Information

• Working hours: 36 hours per week
• Location: 25 Bournemouth Road, Peckham, London, SE15 4UJ
• Type of contract: Permanent

Benefits and more information:

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

Recruitment Timeline:

Advert close date: 11:59pm on Friday 14th August 2026

Shortlisting date/s: 17th - 19th August 2026

Interview date/s: Week commencing 7th September 2026

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 who 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 the black, Asian and ethnic minority communities to increase representation at senior management level in the Council.

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 below criteria:

Members of the Armed Forces and veterans

Are currently in care, or have previously been in care

If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition

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Attachments

• Applications and Assessment Service Manager