Description
The Defence Housing Service (DHS) is being created to deliver a step-change in housing for the UK’s Armed Forces and their families. The Head of Case Management provides strategic leadership and direction for the Defence Housing Service case management function.
Job Description: The Head of Case Management provides strategic leadership and direction for the Defence Housing Service case management function, ensuring that complaints, complex cases and support for vulnerable customers are managed consistently, proportionately and effectively.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead the end-to-end management of complex, sensitive and escalated housing cases, including complaints and cases requiring senior intervention.
- Set case management standards, operating procedures and quality controls to ensure cases are handled consistently, fairly and within agreed timescales.
- Provide senior oversight and direction on high-risk or high-profile cases, ensuring clear ownership, effective escalation and proportionate resolution.
- Lead the accessibility and vulnerability function, ensuring customers requiring additional support are identified and receive appropriate, coordinated assistance.
- Oversee special support arrangements for complex customer circumstances, working with internal teams, contractors and specialist partners to secure effective outcomes.
- Ensure case management approaches reflect individual needs, reasonable adjustments and the lived experience of Service personnel and families.
- Provide strategic leadership for safeguarding policy and practice across housing case management, ensuring concerns are recognised, escalated and managed appropriately.
- Lead policy and assurance for housing adaptations, supporting timely and proportionate decisions that meet customer needs and operational requirements.
- Maintain effective relationships with Defence, statutory bodies, welfare organisations and delivery partners on safeguarding and adaptations matters.
- Lead the use of complaints, casework and customer insight to identify trends, root causes, emerging risks and systemic issues, informing strategic decision-making and service priorities.
- Establish and oversee performance frameworks and reporting for case management, providing robust assurance and strategic advice to senior leaders on quality, timeliness, customer outcomes, risks and organisational performance.
- Champion continuous improvement across policy, operations and supplier delivery, ensuring lessons learned are embedded into processes, governance and service design to improve customer outcomes and prevent recurrence of issues.
- Provide visible and inclusive leadership to geographically dispersed teams, creating a high-performing culture focused on customer outcomes.
- Lead and develop managers and their teams, promoting staff engagement, wellbeing, capability development and succession planning.
- Represent the case management function across DHS, Defence and external stakeholder forums, influencing policy and operational delivery.
Person Specification:
- Significant experience leading high-performing teams through transformation, using excellent leadership, communication, influencing and decision-making skills to deliver change.
- Strong understanding of effective complaints handling, customer vulnerability, safeguarding and service recovery.
- Experience of working in housing, public service, government or a regulated environment.
- Experience of managing complex and sensitive cases, including risk assessment, escalation, governance and assurance.
- A proven ability to use customer insight and performance evidence to identify systemic issues and drive service improvement.
- A proven ability to build productive relationships with senior stakeholders, delivery partners and specialist organisations.
Benefits:
- Salary of £72,840 per year
- 25 days’ annual leave plus one day a year up to 30 days after five years, and eight bank holidays
- An extra day off to honour the sovereign’s birthday
- Flexible and hybrid working wherever possible to support your work-life balance
- Market-leading employer pension contribution of around 28.97%
- Enhanced parental leave schemes
- Recognition awards
- Access to specialist training and funded professional qualifications
- Support for progression