Head of Repairs and Maintenance

Description:

About Haringey

Haringey is a fantastic place to live and work – the world in one borough. A place brimming with creativity, personality, radicalism, and community. It is a place where we stand up for each other. A place that is proudly distinctive. We’ll be celebrating all this and more as the “rebel borough” when we are the 2027 London Borough of Culture.

Our history champions change-makers and everyday rebels; revelling in our differences, battling discrimination, championing equality, and doing things our own way. Haringey’s people are a huge asset, with knowledge, expertise, and passion. Our staff members embody our organisational values: Caring, Creative, Courageous, Collaborative and Community-focused. These values keep us looking forward, ambitious for the future, and continuously striving to do our very best for all of our residents.

About the role

As Head of Repairs and Maintenance, you will play a pivotal role in the senior leadership team within Housing and Building Safety, which is responsible for managing the homes of around 15,000 council tenants and 5,000 leaseholders.

It is an exciting time to be stepping aboard and moving the Council along on their journey of improvement. Formerly Homes for Haringey, an arms-length management organisation, they were brought back into the council in 2022. Haringey have an exciting repairs transformation programme backed by additional investment to the service to ensure they are delivering a high-quality responsive repair service to their residents.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Deliver a high-quality repairs and maintenance (including voids) service to the residents of Haringey Council meeting organisational customer satisfaction and operational targets.

Manage the overall responsibility for Responsive Repairs, Voids, Disrepair, Complex Repairs, Damp and Mould and Depot management along with transformation of the repairs service.

Working with the Assistant Director of Repairs & Compliance and other senior directorate staff, develop the Council’s strategy for the Repairs and Maintenance service including maximising the in-house delivery model where it offers value for money and other service benefits.

Translate the repairs strategy, into key deliverable action plans to ensure delivery of key objectives and targets across the property portfolio.

Deliver robust procurement and on-going management of external contractors and suppliers, ensuring they add value, support the delivery of our commercial and performance objectives and that they are effectively and robustly managed.

Be accountable for all activities and spend related to delivery of an effective repairs across the residential property portfolio.

Ensure that directly employed staff delivering the repairs and maintenance service meet strategic objectives and commercial targets, to deliver a high quality and VFM service.

Set high quality standards around repairs service delivery and value for money.

Is a champion for the repairs service, bringing staff together from across the company around shared priorities, particularly in liaison with the call centre and housing management directorate, to ensure a seamless customer service.

Working for Haringey

At Haringey Council we are committed to creating a workplace culture where all our people feel valued, included, and able to be their best at work, and we recognise the benefits of a diverse workforce so welcome applications from all ethnicities and communities so that we continue to make a difference to our residents and community.

Our benefits package includes a leave entitlement of 30 days + bank holidays, health and well-being support, a generous local government pension scheme and a range of discount schemes across leisure and culture that provide both financial and money-saving discounts.

About you

We are seeking a highly experienced professional with extensive knowledge of housing repairs, specifically in relation to: legislation, compliance, and regulatory obligation. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record in delivering transformational change within a repairs services setting, including substantial experience managing direct labour organisations and Trade Union relationships. You must possess extensive experience in developing robust reporting and data frameworks and be proficient in using trade software packages to ensure effective repairs services.

Additionally, substantial experience in contract management, the ability to hold external contractors accountable for performance, whilst ensuring value for money is ensured, is essential. The candidate should also demonstrate substantial financial and commercial acumen, with a history of being accountable for large capital and revenue budgets. You will live within a commutable distance to the borough, as this role will require you to be in the office for a minimum of 4 days a week