Head of Business Improvement
Recruitment
pack
Contents
Dear Applicant,
Sutton Housing Partnership - Head of Business Improvement
Thank you for your interest in these positions. Enclosed is the information you will require to assist you in
completing your application.
To apply, please can you:
n Provide an up-to-date CV which shows your full career history with any breaks explained
– we recommend that this is no longer than three pages;
n Write a supporting statement detailing how you are a good candidate for this post and how you fulfil the
person specification – we recommend that this should be a maximum of around three pages;
n Complete the declaration form; and
n Indicate in the declaration form if you cannot attend any of the interview dates.
n Letter from Andrew Taylor, Chief Executive
4
n About Sutton Housing Partnership
5
Please note that applications can only be considered if all the documentation is completed.
However, it is not mandatory to complete the equalities section within the declaration form. The
information requested is for monitoring purposes in line with our commitment to equality and diversity,
and will not affect the outcome of your application.
Once complete, please send your application, preferably in MS Word format, by email to
[email protected] or by post to:
Campbell Tickell Recruitment, Olympic Office Centre, 8 Fulton Road, Wembley, HA9 0NU.
Due to postal unreliability we recommend you e-mail your application to us wherever
possible to avoid missing the deadline.
Applications must be received by Monday 1st June 2015 at 12 noon.
It is your responsibility to ensure that we have received your application. If you do not receive confirmation of receipt
of your application from us within 24 hours of sending, please call 020 3434 0990 to ensure it has arrived.
You should also ensure that you use a secure email address from which to send your application, as our system will
filter out emails if it believes them to have been sent from unsecured sites that are often used to send spam emails.
In order to avoid last-minute IT issues, we also ask that you allow yourself ample time to submit your application in
advance of the deadline.
Please do contact me if you wish to have an informal discussion about the role or if you have any questions
on 020 3434 0990.
I look forward to hearing from you.
n SHP’s Board
n SHP’s Executive Management Team
n Job description
n SHP overall structure
6
9
11
15
n Principle terms & conditions
16
n Dates
17
Kind regards,
Mary Hope
Mary Hope
2
3
Letter from Andrew Taylor
About Sutton Housing Partnership
Dear Applicant,
Thank you for your interest in joining our team at SHP.
We recognise that our employees are central to our performance and that we can only deliver
excellent customer service with excellent people working for us.
The SHP story so far…
SHP was formed in 2005 to manage around 7,500 Council rented and leasehold properties on behalf of
the London Borough of Sutton. Over the past 8 years we have been on an amazing journey together
with our residents and partners.
Some of our highlights include:
n Over 3,500 homes improved with new kitchens and bathrooms, over 3,000 central heating systems and new boilers installed and new windows and doors to over 3,500 houses across the borough
n Obtaining the Tenant Participation Advisory Service Accreditation for Excellence in Resident
Involvement for always putting our residents at the heart of what we do
n Working in partnership with contractors to support the Building Lives Training academy to provide
construction apprenticeships to local youths.
Why SHP?
Our vision says it all.....
A thriving, first choice service provider with a reputation for care, quality and value.
We never stand still – and have a clear purpose to work together to deliver homes and communities
where residents feel happy and secure.
We are a continously improving organisation, driven by feedback and scrutiny from residents and by
external accreditations and benchmarking.
We are proud of our organisational development - in the last two years we achieved Investors in People
Gold, won the British Safety Council Sword of Honour, supported the growth of our Residents’ Scrutiny
Group and introduced Lean working to the organiastion.
With around 160 staff we’re small enough to be friendly, large enough to give you scope to progress
your career.
Our Priorities
We’re passionate about providing a high quality service to our residents and want staff who can help
us to continually improve. We also like to have fun, whether it’s synchronised drumming at our staff
conference, summer barbeques or helping out with resident activities.
n Quality -
Why you?
You’ll play a key role in helping us to achieve the big goals of our exciting five year plan through
innovative engagement of our customers, employees, partners and key stakeholders. You’ll inspire your
team to deliver great services for our residents that will really make a difference.
If you think you’ve got what it takes to be part of our dynamic senior managment team then I look
forward to hearing from you.
n Customer Care - To continuously improve our level of customer service.
To deliver all services to the highest recognised standards based on external
accreditation and benchmarking.
n Value for money - To operate a framework that maximises the VFM received from the resources used.
n Reputation - To develop communication channels that most positively promote the care, quality
and value of our service delivery.
Our Future Plans
We are in the third year of our business growth plan – and are currently developing with residents, staff
and the council a five year business plan to help us achieve our vision and priorites in the future.
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Taylor
Chief Executive, Sutton Housing Partnership
4
5
The SHP Board
The SHP Board
Peter Walters - Chair
Tracey White
Peter has an extensive background as a housing professional, having worked
in various boroughs over a period of 20 years.
Tracey has a broad and fulfilling career in the financial services sector and
is currently an audit professional with specialist knowledge of operational
risk. Tracey has also been involved with charities and developing selfimprovement initiatives.
He is currently the Chief Executive of First Wessex which he joined in April
2007. The organisation manages over 19,000 homes. Prior to joining First
Wessex, Peter was Chief Executive of English Churches Housing Group.
Tracey is an Independent Board Member.
Peter is an Independent Board Member.
Michael Baldwin - Vice Chair
Ken Morgan
Michael has spent 40 years in the housing sector and worked in 5 London
Boroughs. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing and serves
on the London Regional Board. He has been Chair of a Housing Association.
He holds a Certificate in Education and was Course Team Leader for a CIH
Certificate Course.
Ken is a Qualified Chartered Surveyor. He is currently a Partner (Member)
of construction consultancy firm John Rowan and Partners, as Head of the
Development and Regeneration Team.
Michael is a Council Nominated Board Member
Ken is an Independent Board Member.
Sam Bromige
John Drage
Samantha has worked in Human Resources for over 7 years and is currently
a Human Resources Project Manager and a Chartered member of the
Institute of Personnel and Development.
John joined the board in October 2014 having served as a Liberal Democrat
Councillor in the borough for a number of years, John has a strong financial
background and is the Chair of SHP’s Finance and Performance Committee
Sam is an Independent Board Member..
John is a Council Nominated Board Member.
Ruth Scott
Barry Russell
Ruth has been a resident of Sutton for over two years. Working within a
neighbouring local authority to help safeguard children, Ruth has extensive
knowledge in working with children and their families.
Barry has worked within various financial institutions specialising in both
residential and commercial lending. He has since built a number of businesses
related to residential property development and lettings and has a substantial
number of local families as clients. He also has experience with property
maintenance and investment.
She joined the board to act as a voice for the residents of Sutton.
Ruth is a Resident Board Member.
Ken was involved in the delivery of Decent Homes Programme for
Hounslow Homes. and was an employee of the London Borough of Ealing.
For the last 16 years he has been Chair of Governors of Manor Park Primary
School and was a Housing Spokesman between 2006–10.
Barry is a Council Nominated Board Member.
6
7
The SHP Board
The SHP Executive Management Team
Graeme Bennett
Andrew Taylor
Graeme was a housing manager with the London Boroughs of Southwark
and Greenwich between 1977 and 2000. He then joined the Audit
Commission, first as a Housing Inspector, then in various policy roles,
becoming the National Lead for Housing at the Commission. Graeme is
a Member of the Chartered Institute of Housing. He has been a regular
conference speaker on all aspects of housing management and inspection.
Andrew joined Sutton Housing Partnership in June 2006 as Finance Director,
having worked in housing finance for 17 years with local authorities and more
recently in the housing association sector.
Graeme is a Council Nominated Board Member.
John Phillips
John is the Leaseholder board member, joining in 2014. He has a
background in construction, with over 32 years experience in contract
management. He has worked with several residents groups, passing the
resident scrutiny training with a certification.
John is a Resident Board Member.
As Chief Executive he leads the whole organisation and has direct
responsibility for governance and communication. He also retains oversight of
the ALMO’s Finances and the wider housing finances on behalf of the council.
In addition, he is a Board Member and Chairs the Audit Committee of a
Housing Assosication. He is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Public
Finance and Accountancy and currently chairs one of their housing finance
working parties.
Jerry Austin
Jerry joined Sutton Housing Partnership in August 2014 as the (Interim)
Executive Director for Property.
He is a Chartered Engineer with over 20 years executive experience as a
building services engineer and in property management.
Viktorija Skudneva
Viktorija has been working as a volunteer for Age Concern Sutton, gaining
experience in representing elderly and disabled people. While studying
Counselling at Birkbeck University, she was awarded with the “Make a
Difference 2011” Award.
He brings a proven background in strategic improvement and is committed
to delivering excellent levels of customer service at all times and to all
members of the community.
Viktorija is a Resident Board Member.
8
9
The SHP Executive Management Team
Brendan Crossan
Job description
Job Title
Head of Business Improvement
Brendan joined SHP is 2006, bringing his background in marketing, business
development and strategic planning to his role as Executive Director of
Resources.
Directorate
Resources
Location
Sutton Gate
Responsible to
Executive Director (Resources)
As well as having overall responsibility for SHP’s planning, his directorate is
responsible for income collection (from tenants and leaseholders), finance,
human resources and information technology.
Responsible for
Performance Manager, Complaints Co-ordinator
He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Housing.
Joanne Cambra
Joanne joined Sutton Housing Partnership in 2006 and as Executive
Director of Neighbourhoods, she has strategic responsibility for customer
facing services including: neighbourhood management, supported housing,
customer care, complaints and quality and performance.
She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
and affiliate member of the Chartered Institute of Housing. Previously
working in both the private and public sector her background is in housing,
HR and change management. Joanne is also a member of the Life Centre
Board.
JOB PURPOSE
n To lead and manage the business improvement function of Sutton Housing Partnership to:
n Ensure best practice in relation to customer insight, performance management and business
transformation in order to facilitate service improvements and developments across the
organisation;
n Influence the senior management team on the successful impact that the use of business
improvement techniques will make to both the customer experience and the organisation’s
viability.
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES
Team Management
n Lead and manage and develop the Business Improvement team to ensure that staff are motivated and
high levels of performance achieved.
n Develop and regularly review strategies for the development of the business improvement function.
n Produce and manage the delivery of the function’s annual Statement of Intent to support the delivery
of SHP’s priorities.
n Identify and agree appropriate performance targets for the team as a whole.
n Represent the business improvement team as part of the SHP senior management team and with
external bodies.
n Contribute to the business planning processes for SHP.
Financial Management
n Agree, manage and monitor all budgets relating to the business improvement function.
n Discuss with the Executive Director (Resources) significant projected income and expenditure
variances and intended corrective action.
n Regularly review expenditure to ensure value for money and to achieve annual efficiency savings as
required.
10
11
Job description
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (continued)
NATURE AND SCOPE
Customer Insight
n Lead on identifying the most appropriate data/information requirements and collection methods
to understand our customers better and ensure that staff across the organisation are involved as
appropriate.
n Develop the feedback methods used to understand customer needs, opinions and behaviours
(e.g. surveys, CRM, complaints).
n Use information and feedback to positively influence SHPs priorities and strategies to deliver services
right first time to the right customers.
n Use customer insight as an integral part of providing inclusive services that ensure equality of access
to a diverse range of customers.
n Ensure that the procedures for collection, storage, use and sharing of customer data/information are
legally compliant.
This role is new but is regarded as vital to enable SHP to deliver excellent services that are accessible
to all our customers and meet all their diverse needs. It will require the person undertaking the role
to:
n acquire and maintain high level knowledge of principles and current best practice that enables
complex work to be undertaken in the areas of: equality & diversity, customer insight, complaints
handling, business transformation and performance management;
n manage different levels of staff who are carrying out diverse tasks across the business improvement
function;
n ensure a high quality, effective and responsive service is provided to all stakeholders (residents, staff,
LBS, suppliers) and engage effectively with them;
n adopt innovative approaches to the strategic development of the business improvement function and
provide imaginative solutions to operational issues;
n ensure an understanding throughout the organisation of the importance of customer insight and lead
on promoting its use in service development;
n be responsible for achieving agreed performance targets, outcomes and standards; lead on developing
effective partnerships with appropriate external agencies (e.g. research agencies, Mosaic, data sharing
agencies, Housemark) and act as a representative of SHP in dealing with these partners.
Business Transformation
n Ensure that the Lean Foundation principles are embedded across the organisation.
n Lead on developing the Lean programme of customer journey mapping, process reviews and rapid
improvement workshops and oversee its implementation.
n Commission work with external suppliers/consultants where required and manage the relationships
with these suppliers.
Performance Management
n Agree a performance management framework and ensure it is reviewed and developed.
n Lead on the implementation of the performance management framework and ensure compliance
with it across the organisation.
n Ensure performance information complements customer insight and business transformation
processes and is an integral component of the intelligence used to deliver business improvement.
n Acting as a critical friend, identify poor performance and work with managers to drive performance
improvements.
Information Management
n Contribute to decisions relating to IT systems, in particular Covalent (Performance Management) &
HCRM (Customer Relationship Management).
n Work closely with the ICT team to ensure that Covalent & HCRM are fit for purpose and that their
use as business improvement tools is maximised.
n Provide accurate and timely management reports to EMT, the Board and LBS as required.
12
CONTACTS
Internal
Senior Management Team, Managers Forum
External
Research agencies, Data sharing agencies, Housemark, HQN, London Borough of
Sutton (LBS)
DIMENSIONS
(ie job facts and figures)
Financial
Non-pay budget 2015-16 = £32,200
Staff
Other
The Business Improvement Team currently consists of the Performance Manager
and 2 other staff in addition to the Head of Service
Approximately 6,300 tenants (inc. 500 sheltered)
1,600 leaseholders
13
Job description
SHP - overall structure
Sutton Housing Partnership - Overall Structure
Sutton Housing Partnership - overall structure
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, BEHAVIOURS AND EXPERIENCE
(person specification)
Essential/
Desirable
Appropriate qualification or significant relevant experience
E
Knowledge of the housing or related sector
D
Experience of working in a customer focussed environment
E
Understanding, and use of, a wide range of customer insight tools & techniques
E
Experience of using Lean methodology or similar business transformation techniques
E
Experience of using performance management software
D
Understanding of customer relationship management systems and their potential in driving
service improvement
D
Ability to lead and motivate a team to deliver results
E
Excellent report writing and presentation skills
D
Ability to process and analyse complex data
E
Ability to plan at a strategic level
E
A proactive, can do approach
E
Ability to develop positive relationships with a range of stakeholders and at all levels
E
Ability to confidently make decisions and work well under pressure
E
Experience of successful delivery of service/business improvements
E
Willing to work flexibly
E
Andrew Taylor
Chief Executive
Executive Director
(Resources)
Executive Director
(Property)
KEY:
EMT
Head of Communications &
Involvement
Head of Governance &
Assurance
Head of Service
(2nd tier)
Manager
(3rd tier)
Executive Director
(Resources)
Head of Business
Improvement
Performance Manager
Head of ICT
ICT Service Manager
Head of Finance
Accountancy Manager
Network Manager
Head of HR and
Development
Charges Manager
Executive Director
(Neighbourhoods)
Head of Neighbourhoods
AS PART OF OUR COMMITMENT TO POSITIVE ACTION FOR APPLICANTS WITH
A DISABILITY WE GUARANTEE AN INTERVIEW TO ALL APPLICANTS WITH A
DISABILITY WHO MEET THE ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS,
BEHAVIOURS AND EXPERIENCE.
Executive Director
(Neighbourhoods)
Senior Neighbourhood
Manager
Senior Neighbourhood
Manager
Head of
Sheltered Housing & Support
Head of
Income
Customer Care Manager
Senior Income Manager
x 2
Sheltered Housing
Manager
Senior Neighbourhood
Manager
(Tenancy Sustainment)
Allocations Manager
Executive Director
(Property)
Head of Asset Management
& Compliance
Planned Maintenance
Manager
Senior Project Manager
Head of Repairs & Voids
Repairs & Voids Manager
The structure below Head of Service in the Property Directorate
is currently berng re-aligned. The above represents the current structure
14
Head of External Services
Estate Manager
Supplies
Estate Manager
Safety & Security
Estate Manager
Fleet
15
Principal terms & conditions
1. Position
Dates
Closing date
1 June 2015
2. Salary and benefits
First interviews
12 June 2015
n Full salary range is £42,534-£53,535 pa. This scale comprises five incremental points to £49,537and
a further, flexible ‘enhanced’ range to £53,535. Normal practice is to appoint within the incremental
range; however a salary within the ‘enhanced’ range may be agreed for an exceptional candidate
Testing for shortlisted candidate (online)
16 - 22 June 2015
Final interviews
23 June 2015
n Head of Business Improvement
n Membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme - a defined benefit scheme based on career
average salary with excellent benefits http://www.lgps2014.org/content/whats-different
n Healthcare cash back plan
3. Annual Leave
n Annual holiday entitlement of 32 days per annum plus usual bank and public holidays
4. Location
n Your usual place of work will be at our head office in Sutton Gate, Carshalton Road, Sutton
5. Working hours
n Normal hours of work are those reasonably required to carry out the role with a minimum of 36
hours per week expected. However, due to the seniority of this post there is a requirement for
flexibility in meeting the full responsibilities of the post and this will include evening and occasional
weekend work.
6. Notice periods
n The probation period for this role is six months. The notice period during probation is one month.
The notice period after probation is three months.
16
17
Working together to deliver homes and communities
where residents feel happy and secure
This publication was produced in-house
by the Communications team at Sutton
Housing Partnership.
© Sutton Housing Partnership 2015