Title: Housing Development Manager
Location: West Midlands – Hybrid with extensive travel
Salary: £65,000 + Bonus Scheme
Hours: Full-time
Job Type: Full-time, Permanent
This position does not offer sponsorship. We are unable to accept applications from individuals who require a visa to work in the UK.
Overview
This is an established and growing organisation operating across health, justice, and social care, with a strong track record of delivering measurable outcomes for the people it supports. Underpinned by clear values and a commitment to quality, the organisation provides a range of specialist services across the UK, including supported living, complex community care, forensic healthcare, and assessment services. With an ambitious growth strategy and a newly established sales and marketing function, this is an organisation at a significant point in its development, where commercial growth and social value go hand in hand. The culture is fast-paced, values-led, and high-energy, and the people joining now will play a pivotal role in shaping what comes next. Values and the way business is done matter here as much as results.
The Role
The Housing Development Manager - Supported Living is responsible for identifying, developing, and delivering high-quality supported living accommodation that enables sustainable growth across the organisation's services within their allocated region. Working as part of the Group Sales and Marketing Team, the role will lead on the delivery of an agreed pipeline of new supported living homes, expanding provision in line with the organisation's growth strategy and local commissioning demand. The postholder will work collaboratively with internal teams and external partners, including commissioners, Integrated Care Boards, Registered Providers, housing developers, landlords, and local authorities, to ensure new schemes are viable, compliant, and operationally ready.
This is a high-travel, relationship-driven role that demands someone who can operate across a wide range of stakeholders; equally comfortable negotiating with developers and estate agents as they are engaging sensitively with families and individuals with care needs. The team operates at pace and the right candidate will thrive in that environment, bringing both the energy to work at speed and the authenticity to represent the organisation's values in every interaction. This role requires a self-starter with strong commercial instincts, a genuine commitment to person-centred outcomes, and the resilience to build something significant from the ground up.
Key Responsibilities
Housing & Service Development
- Deliver an agreed pipeline of new supported living units/homes across the Midlands or Southeast.
- Identify, source, and secure new housing opportunities aligned to the organisational growth strategy.
- Proactively seek out housing opportunities through online platforms, housing agents, developers, and partner networks.
- Develop bespoke housing solutions as part of capital-funded projects.
- Ensure homes are developed to meet required specifications for supported living services.
Partnerships & Stakeholder Engagement
- Build and maintain strong relationships with Registered Providers, social landlords, housing developers, housing agents, and private landlords.
- Work closely with commissioners, local authorities, and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) to ensure growth plans align with local demand.
- Liaise with social workers, commissioners, and wider stakeholders to support referrals and service mobilisation.
- Work closely with the Business Development Manager (BDM) to secure and progress new opportunities.
- Maintain and keep the stakeholder and housing opportunity database fully up to date.
Commercial, Governance & Reporting
- Develop robust business cases for new opportunities in line with the new business approval process.
- Review and negotiate Service Level Agreements (SLAs), leases, and related housing documentation with the Housing Development Manager and the Chief Commercial and Legal Officer.
- Demonstrate a strong understanding of Housing Benefit, rent structures, and financial viability.
- Maintain accurate and up-to-date records using internal systems and processes to ensure data capture and complete reporting.
- Produce and submit a monthly progress report to the Manager of Housing and Partnerships covering pipeline activity, delivery progress, risks, and opportunities.
Opportunity Generation & Market Awareness
- Maintain a sharp eye for new housing opportunities and emerging market trends.
- Confidently liaise with housing agents to generate new accommodation options.
- Proactively source housing opportunities through online portals, agents, and developer relationships.
- Ensure all opportunities are logged, tracked, and progressed through agreed systems and processes.
Project Delivery, Mobilisation & Compliance
- Conduct regular site visits to monitor progress, quality, and timelines.
- Liaise with contractors, obtain and review quotes, and oversee works where required.
- Arrange and oversee compliance checks (e.g. gas, electrical, fire safety).
- Work closely with the Mobilisation Manager to ensure a smooth transition into new service openings.
- Ensure structured handover of new services to operational teams.
Operational Collaboration & Portfolio Oversight
- Work closely with operational colleagues to ensure safe and effective service delivery.
- Liaise with Registered Managers, BSMs, and operational teams to align referrals, move-ins, and service start dates.
- Maintain oversight of the existing housing portfolio, identifying risks related to lease expiries, notices, and reprovision requirements.
- Work proactively with internal teams to plan and deliver reprovision solutions where required.
Internal Collaboration & Ways of Working
- Bring internal teams on the journey of growth through transparent, collaborative working.
- Maintain close working relationships with People, Finance, Quality, IT, Housing, and Operations teams.
- Ensure internal stakeholders are informed and briefed on new schemes to support mobilisation, compliance, and service readiness.
- Work particularly closely with Operations and Quality to ensure high-quality, safe, and compliant services.
Person-Centred Approach
- Ensure the people we support are at the centre of all housing development activity.
- Engage appropriately with individuals and their families during the development of new schemes.
- Promote environments that support independence, dignity, safety, and positive outcomes.
- Champion high-quality supported living environments that meet regulatory and commissioning expectations.
Requirements
Essential Experience & Knowledge
- Proven experience in a housing development or business development role, ideally gained within a Registered Provider, social landlord, or supported housing organisation.
- Demonstrable track record of sourcing, securing, and developing supported living accommodation solutions.
- Strong understanding of tenancies, Housing Benefit, rent structures, lease negotiation, and SLAs within a supported living context.
- Experience working with commissioners, local authorities, and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs).
- Experience developing business cases and progressing opportunities through internal approval processes.
- Solid understanding of working with Registered Providers, social landlords, housing agents, and private developers.
- Project management experience, including overseeing capital works programmes and contractor management.
- Experience using systems to manage pipelines, data, and reporting.
Skills & Attributes
- Charismatic, confident, and credible; able to build trusted relationships across a wide stakeholder mix, from estate agents and developers through to families and individuals with care needs.
- High energy and pace; this is a fast-moving team and the right candidate will thrive working at speed without sacrificing quality or values.
- Authentic and values-driven; the organisation places significant emphasis on doing things the right way, and candidates must demonstrate genuine alignment with a person-centred, ethical approach.
- Resilient and self-starting; comfortable managing a complex pipeline independently, sustaining motivation in a high-travel, high-activity role with limited hand-holding.
- Emotionally intelligent; able to balance commercial drive with sensitivity, and to manage the operational and relational nuances that come with working across internal teams, commissioners, and people with care needs.
- Strong communicator with excellent stakeholder engagement skills, confident holding meetings independently and representing the organisation externally.
- Highly organised with strong project management capability, including the ability to oversee capital works programmes where required.
- Commercially aware with a sharp eye for opportunity and the ability to progress deals through to completion.
- Happy to travel extensively, with regular attendance at the Stevenage office and the flexibility to work across a broad geography.
Benefits
Further information on the benefits package is available upon application.
Working Pattern
Full-time, Permanent. This is a hybrid role with extensive travel required across the South, including North London, East Sussex, and the surrounding regions, with regular attendance at the Stevenage office. Mileage is reimbursed at 45p per mile. Candidates must be based within a commutable distance of West Midlands, and must be fully comfortable with a high-travel working pattern.
