Customer Services

Director

March 2015

Olympic Office Centre, 8 Fulton Road HA9 0NU

Telephone 020 8830 6777 Fax 020 8450 9777

info@campbelltickell.com www.campbelltickell.com

Campbell Tickell Ltd Incorporated in Cardiff (England & Wales) Registration number 4713939

Registered office 14 Accommodation Road, London NW11 8EP VAT number 743 6943 08

March 2015 Dear applicant, Crown Simmons – Customer Services Director Thank you for your interest in this position. Enclosed is the information you will require to assist you in completing your application. To apply please can you:

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;

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;

Complete the declaration form; and

Indicate in the declaration form if you cannot attend any of the interview dates.

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 crownsimmons@campbelltickell.com 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.

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Applications must be received by Tuesday 7th April 2015, at 12noon. 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. Details of the selection process can be found on page 15. Please do contact me if you wish to have an informal discussion about the role or if you have any questions on 07786 831690 or 020 3434 0990. I look forward to hearing from you. Kind regards,

Kathy Carter Associate Consultant

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Contents

Page

Welcome letter from the Chief Executive 5

About Crown Simmons 6

The Leadership and Senior Management Team 8

Role profile 9

Person specification 12

Structure chart 13

Principal terms and conditions of service 14

Key dates and the selection process 15

The advertisement 16

The following supplementary information can be downloaded from www.campbelltickell.com:

Annual Report – 2014

Corporate Plan – 2014

Open House Residents Newsletter Winter - 2014

To find out more please also visit the Crown Simmons website: www.crownsimmons.org.uk

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Welcome letter

Dear Applicant, Customer Services Director I’m delighted you have shown an interest in becoming our new Customer Services Director. This is the key role leading the people who deliver all our front line services to customers. Our housing portfolio is varied with general needs, sheltered and leasehold housing for Over 55s, shared ownership, as well as a growing number of properties managed for the public and charity sector. Our stock is scattered and locations vary from Islington to Worthing. Last year was significant in our history, as Rosemary Simmons and Crown Housing Associations merged to form Crown Simmons Housing. All the initial work around integration, moving offices and consolidating policies has been done. We now need to look to the future and there is work to be done to move from being a good organisation to a truly great one. We now need to achieve much more than either association could ever have acting alone. So we’re setting the bar higher than ever before and now need an experienced senior manager to help us get to the next stage in our development. Developing a new People Strategy and introducing a new repairs partnering contract to transform our service to customers are two big initiatives for this year. We continue to see ourselves playing our part in the development of new homes and have ambitious plans to develop 150 new homes over the next five years. We are also interested in growth in other ways whether through merger, or new management contracts. Our new Customer Services Director will be a strong, competent housing specialist who will focus on championing fantastic service. What is important to me will be your absolute commitment and passion in leading your team to help Crown Simmons achieve even more. I do hope that you will want to come on board and be part of the success of Crown Simmons and wish you well in your application. Yours sincerely,

Paul Yates Chief Executive

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About Crown Simmons

Crown Simmons Housing was formed by the merger of Rosemary Simmons Memorial Housing Association and Crown Housing Association on 1 August 2014.

Crown Simmons Housing is the Trading Name for Rosemary Simmons Memorial Housing Association which is a charitable industrial and provident society registered under the Co-operative & Community Benefits Societies Act 2014 (Soc no.IP15355R) and registered as a housing association by the Homes and Communities Agency (no.LH1026). We own and manage approximately 800 properties across parts of Surrey, London and the South coast. A key driver for the merger was to offer enhanced services for residents, including a specialist team for older peoples’ housing, as well as the capacity to develop and acquire around 150 new homes over the next 5 years.

We have a voluntary Board of Management which meets at least five times a year. There are two committees which meet to consider issues in more detail: Governance & Remuneration and Audit & Risk. In recent years we have been successful in receiving funding from the Government, via the Homes & Communities Agency, as well as from our local authority partners, to build a number of new homes.

We supplemented grant funding with private borrowing and self-funding from our reserves and completed 53 new homes between 2012 and 2014 in Thames Ditton, Esher, Byfleet, Guildford and Egham. We are members of the Wayfarer development consortium which comprises a number of large and small housing associations based in the South East. Wayfarer acts as the conduit for our development funding from the Government. Where are our properties? Crown Simmons has properties in the boroughs of Elmbridge, Guildford, Runnymede, Kingston-upon-Thames, Islington, Sutton and Charlton. FHT has properties in the Brighton & Hove, Worthing, Woking and Adur. We also manage sheltered housing for a charity in Barnes and general need housing for another charity in Weybridge.

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Most new residents are referred to us by local authorities, but we also hold a waiting list for sheltered housing applicants. How many staff? Crown Simmons employs 28 staff; the majority are based in our brand new Esher office and some at our seven sheltered housing schemes. Our Leadership Team comprises a Customer Services Director and Finance & Resources

Director reporting to the Chief Executive. We are a small organisation and work very closely together. Many of our staff work part-time, allowing us to maximise the talent available to us. Our Mission To develop a range of homes and services for the benefit of lower to middle income people who are unable to access housing through the normal market process. Our Vision To be a top performer amongst housing associations in our area of operation with a strong reputation for innovation, delivery, value for money and excellent services for customers. In September 2014 the Board approved a new Corporate Plan to develop a framework for the work of Crown Simmons Housing for the period ending 31 March 2016 a statement from the Board on the future development of the association and what we want to achieve over this initial period. The process for putting the plan together has involved staff and the board setting the vision for what we want to achieve. To help us realise our vision we have identified the following overall objectives for delivery over the next 18 months.

Delivering excellent services

Financial viability &efficiency

Achieving growth in homes & services

Investing In homes through active asset management

Becoming a stronger organisation (governance and people objectives)

Our Values We believe that our values can be summarised as follows:

Value for Money

Innovation

Delivery

Customer Focus

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Leadership Team

Paul Yates, Chief Executive

Appointed Chief Executive in January 2012, Paul is responsible to the Board for the leadership and strategic direction of Crown Simmons Housing. He previously worked as an independent housing consultant and was director of housing services for a large London-based housing group until 2008. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Housing and has more than 20 years sector experience.

Shaun Cooper, Finance & Resources Director

Shaun joined as Finance Director in July 2009. Prior to this he spent 9 years in a similar role for a housing association specialising in leasehold properties and 13 years in the NHS. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and a Board member of Stoll, a charity that provides housing and support to ex-Services men and women.

Nick Coverdale, Customer Services Director

Nick is responsible for all customer-facing services including responsive repairs, asset management, housing management, leasehold and sheltered housing. He joined initially as Housing Director in March 2008, prior to which he enjoyed success in senior management roles with other housing associations. Nick has more than 20 years’ experience in the housing sector in the north and south of England.

Senior Management Team

Helena Deacons, Housing Services Manager

Helena leads the housing and customer services teams at Crown Simmons. She joined in August 2014 and was previously housing manager at Crown Housing Association.

Chris Patient, Property Services Manager

Chris was appointed in September 2013 from Merton Priory Homes where he was senior surveyor. He previously worked for Merton and Sutton Councils in various surveying and maintenance roles. Chris manages both the responsive repairs and planned investment programmes including gas servicing.

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Role profile – Customer Services Director

Line manager: Chief Executive

Direct reports: Property Services Manager; Housing Services Manager; and through them all staff in the customer services directorate (18 in total)

Purpose of role:

Lead on the delivery of the housing and property service, ensuring that services are provided to an excellent standard.

Inspire and motivate staff to deliver high quality services, developing the team’s skills and capacity and creating a culture of continuous improvement.

Lead with the Chief Executive on the strategic development of housing and property services, identifying current and projected residents’ needs and considering solutions and innovation to meet these needs.

Promote, develop and facilitate creative and effective resident involvement.

As a member of the leadership team to ensure the vision and values of the Association are actively pursued.

Play an active role as a member of the Leadership Team, contributing to the overall management of the Association and the achievement of its objectives.

Attend Board and Committee meetings, providing appropriate guidance and reports to enable high quality governance for the Association.

Contribute to new business initiatives, taking the lead on new management contracts.

Key responsibilities:

Corporate leadership

1. Deliver the highest standards of probity and accountability in the directorate, and along with the Leadership Team, of the Association as a whole.

2. Lead on developing, implementing and evaluating organisation-wide strategies or policy areas assigned by the Chief Executive. This may include but is not restricted to: resident involvement, asset management, health and safety, equality and diversity.

3. Ensure housing , property and other service information required for regulatory purposes is provided accurately and to deadlines.

4. Ensure that the department’s IT needs are appropriately met. Consider the use of new technology to improve services, working closely with the leadership team and suppliers.

5. Ensure that the customer’s voice is heard at corporate and Board level.

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6. Provide appropriate and timely management information and expert advice on housing, property and customer services issues to the Board, its committees, the Chief Executive, other managers and staff.

7. Take the lead on putting together bids and proposals for new management services contracts and agreements and other revenue based new business in conjunction with other members of the Leadership Team.

Service delivery

8. Ensure the effective delivery of the full range of housing and property management services ensuring statutory requirements are met and appropriate management policies and procedures are followed.

9. Ensure effective and proactive communication with residents to support the delivery of responsive services, utilising feedback and other relevant information.

10. Maintain a pre-emptive approach to managing income and arrears, including liaison with housing benefit departments, minimising risk to the Association ensuring the proactive provision of support to residents and providing regular reports as required. Support the Finance & Resources Director in setting rent levels and service charge budgets in accordance with relevant policies and legislation.

11. Ensure that property services are delivered in line with agreed quality standards, meeting strategic objectives and operational targets, through effective contract management and delivery of value for money.

12. Plan ahead, considering the alignment of staff and other resources to manage expanding housing stock and the development of new services.

13. Ensure effective liaison with a range of external agencies including local authorities, voluntary and community organisations, where partnership working will assist in delivering the Associations objectives and targets.

Performance and information management

14. Maintain a strong performance management culture within the team; encouraging staff to achieve high levels of resident satisfaction, ensuring agreed targets and quality standards are met.

15. Ensure effective monitoring systems to regularly report on performance.

16. Ensure effective systems are in place to learn from resident feedback.

17. Interpret government policy; new initiatives; and research, co-ordinate the Association’s responses as needed.

18. Maintain an excellent knowledge of social policy relating to customer and community service provision, reporting on their impact at the Association.

Resource management

19. Assume overall responsibility for the housing and property budget, including annual budget setting and monthly monitoring of expenditure.

20. Ensure delivery of accurate financial reporting for all directorate expenditure.

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21. Research financial feasibility of services and new projects and identify funding and income generation opportunities – preparing bids and tenders.

Staff and team working

22. Take oversight of the workload of the directorate, planning and prioritising to meet varied demands.

23. Undertake regular 1:1s and team meetings to supervise designated staff and ensure that they are equipped to fulfil their role requirements.

24. Contribute to the annual appraisal process by identifying training needs and encouraging development and on-going improvement.

Compliance and representation

25. Proactively demonstrate commitment to the Association’s vision and values, communicating this message to staff.

26. Ensure the housing management team’s compliance with all the Association’s policies and practices. Take a proactive approach to ensure compliance with equality & diversity, customer care, health & safety, risk management and data protection procedures.

27. Represent the Association externally, acting as an ambassador and maintaining the organisation’s professional reputation.

28. These are your main areas of responsibility but you may be required to perform other reasonable duties as necessary.

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Person specification – Customer Services Director

Qualifications, knowledge and experience

a. Degree or equivalent work experience. Chartered Institute of Housing membership or evidence of continuing professional development would be an advantage.

b. Senior track record of leading one of more of the operational services within the portfolio.

c. Track record of successfully delivering change management and sustained service improvement.

d. Proven track record in managing and leading members of staff with diverse areas of responsibility.

e. Proven track record of managing a significant budget, reporting on finances and maintaining accountability for financial viability.

f. Good understanding of housing management law, best practice and the wider strategic context for housing providers.

Skills and abilities

g. Able to proactively contribute as member of the leadership team helping to further build confidence in the organisation.

h. Able to work flexibly and respond effectively to changing demands, including supporting the organisation through periods of change.

i. Strong verbal and written communication skills, including ability to write reports, information for residents and other agencies.

j. Commitment to high levels of resident care and involvement in service delivery.

k. Skilled at bringing people together, commitment to collaborative working internally with colleagues and externally with partners to ensure a quality service.

l. Resilient, able to work under pressure, and deal robustly with difficult issues to achieve positive outcomes.

m. Good levels of IT skills and can champion use of new technology for service improvement.

n. Good administration, organisation and planning skills.

o. Well-developed influencing and negotiating skills

Personal attributes

p. Actively promote and support the values, ethos and aims of the Association.

q. Have a supportive management style that can bring out the best in others, actively role modelling expected professional and caring behaviours.

r. Confident, with a results driven approach.

s. Able to rely upon own judgement and knows when to seek further assistance.

t. Has a ‘can-do’ proactive approach to service delivery, willing to go the extra mile.

u. Open to learning and development for self and staff.

v. Proactively demonstrate strong commitment to equality and diversity.

w. Champions the rights of residents to have access to good quality homes and services.

x. Demonstrates credibility and integrity, operates with tact and diplomacy.

y. Able to work evenings and occasional weekends.

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Our structure

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Principal terms and conditions (For information purposes only)

1. Position Customer Services Director. 2. Salary and benefits

Circa £62k per annum. Additional benefits include: Pension Scheme administered by SHPS - CARE 1/60th scheme. Employer contribution 19.7%, Employee 10%, Childcare voucher scheme and Employee Assistance Programme

3. Holiday entitlement

25 days from April-March plus bank holidays. Additional 1 day leave entitlement after 5 and 10 years’ service. The offices will also normally be closed for the 3 days between Christmas and New Year periods. This is subject to service requirements and will be reviewed annually.

4. Working hours Normal hours of work are 35 hours per week based around the usual business

working week. 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 occasional evening and weekend work.

5. Location

Your normal place of work will be our office at Crown Simmons Housing First Floor, Aissela, 46 High St, Esher KT10 9QY, but given the seniority of the role, travel across all our operating areas is expected.

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Key dates and the selection process

Closing date: Tuesday 7th April 2015, at 12 noon.

First interviews: Thursday 16th April 2015.

Final interviews: Thursday 30th April or Friday 1st May 2015.

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