What roles could I do?
What could I do in housing?
Housing is a sector rich in possibilities for a great career:
from maintenance to management, from IT to administration – you
name it, you could do it in housing. What’s more, you’ll be putting
your skills to work for the benefit of thousands of people – and
that’s a great reason to come to work and feel good about what you
do.
Here are just a few examples of how your skills could take you
into this exciting and rewarding industry:
Tenant Liaison Officer
It will be up to you to make sure our projects run smoothly by
letting customers know what work is being carried out, as well as
keeping the community informed on health and safety, site access
and any technical issues. You’ll also schedule work and iron out
any issues with contractors. It goes without saying that you’ll
need great communication and negotiation skills. What’s just as
important is that you have the tact and sensitivity to deal with a
range of people.
Support Worker
You’ll provide housing related support to venerable people in
their own homes. What that actually involves will depend on the
people you’re working with, but could include providing
information, as well as emotional, organisational and practical
support and training. You’ll deliver to a range of customers,
including people with learning disabilities, physical disabilities,
and mental health problems as well as supporting older people,
young people and young families. But – whoever you’re working with
– you’ll help them to live as fully and independently as
possible.
Housing Assistant/Housing Services Advisor
If you’re just starting out your career in housing, or looking
for a step up, this could be the ideal role for you. You’ll help
maintain our waiting list, and the control and allocation of empty
properties. But that involves much more than administration: we
want you to be creative and develop new strategies for the way that
we let properties, and how we promote renting to applicants who
haven’t previously considered social housing.
Operations Manager
You’ll be the leader who supports and supervises to make sure we
meet our targets. It’s a wide-ranging role and as well as staff
development you’ll be responsible for making sure housing
operations policies and procedures are up-to-date, ensuring best
practice, and advising on a number of housing issues. Because
you’ll be liaising directly with clients, you’ll need great
communication skills, along with knowledge of housing statutory
legislation and best practice.
Housing Officer/Manager
This is a chance to use your background in housing management to
take on a wide range of responsibilities. You’ll make sure repairs
are made when required, as well as spotting issues before they
become problems, carrying out inspections and referring tenants to
the appropriate sources for benefits and welfare advice. You’ll
also take on a range of other duties that will stretch and shape
your knowledge of housing issues, including dealing with breaches
of tenancy, misuse of property and preparing cases for Court
action.
Management
Housing associations can be large and complex, or small and
compact. But they all have a common need for great leadership and
strong management. You might find yourself in charge of a team of
officers managing a particular estate; maybe you’ll lead a
financial services team, or work with a group of residents to
engage them in the running of their own community. But whatever you
are, whatever you do, you’ll use your natural empathy with people
and excellent management skills to drive the effectiveness and
efficiency of the association you’ll play such a vital part in.
Human Resources/Learning & Development
Housing associations are invariably people-centred
organisations, where staff are treated well and learning &
development are always high on the agenda. An ideal environment, in
fact, for caring HR professionals. Whether your performing a
generalist operational role or you’re in a more strategic position,
whether you’re in charge of training or performance management,
you’ll find yourself in a supportive environment where your skills
are highly valued.
IT
IT is crucial to the smooth running of today’s organisations,
and the housing sector is no different. Bring your IT skills into
housing, and you might find yourself leading an e-learning
programme, delivering a vital new information system, building an
intranet or supporting finances. In fact, housing is in any places
still waking up to the potential of IT so your skills are very much
in demand.
Maintenance
Housing associations exist to provide quality homes for
thousands of people; it follows, then, that there is great demand
for quality maintenance officers, repairs teams and people who can
ensure the properties and landscapes are well maintained, safe and
smart. Whatever your experience with property, you’ll probably find
your skills are sought after in the housing sector.