Strategy and Policy Officer
About us
Tower Hamlets is one of the fastest growing local authority areas in Europe, it is also one of the most diverse. Areas such as the City Fringe, Whitechapel, Canary Wharf, the Isle of Dogs, and the Olympic Park are responding to and undergoing significant change and development. At the same time the borough is rich in culture and history with an extensive river frontage, 58 conservation areas, hundreds of listed buildings, and the Tower of London World Heritage Site. All the borough’s assets provide a range of opportunities and challenges, making it one of the most stimulating places to develop your career.
How the borough responds to this growth and shapes development is crucial to meeting growing demand and maximising opportunities and benefits for residents. This includes the provision of access to quality homes, jobs, spaces, services and infrastructure.
Our response is truly cross-cutting, involving coordination and engagement across a number of partners and council services to deliver long lasting and impactful outcomes for those that live work and visit the borough. It requires meaningful collaborative working, proficiency and effective engagement with a number of partners and all council services to deliver long lasting and positive outcomes for those that live, work and visit the borough.
About the role
An exciting opportunity has arisen in the council’s Strategy, Policy & Improvement service for an experienced Housing Strategy and Policy Officer. You will be joining us as we prepare to bring our housing management service (Tower Hamlets Homes) back into the council fold and at the same time, prepare for the new Social Housing Regulation Regime. Housing is at the forefront of the council priorities and you’ll be making a real difference to residents, as we are committed to tackling overcrowding and transforming our housing management services
As a Strategy and Policy Officer, within the ‘Place’ focussed Strategy and Policy service, you will work across the council’s Housing Services to develop strategies and policies which support the delivery of the council’s housing priorities as set out within its Strategic Plan 2022 – 2026.
About you
To fulfil this role effectively, you will need to have:
- A background in social housing with extensive knowledge of current and emerging legislation and issues across the social housing sector.
- Be able to undertake research and analysis of housing legislation, good practice and current issues to develop strategies and policies across the councils Housing Service as directed by the Senior Strategy and Policy officer and the Head of Strategy, Policy and Improvement
- Support the Senior Housing Strategy and Policy Officer in the development of key council strategies which include the council’s Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy, Tenancy Strategy and Common Housing Register Allocations Scheme including authoring parts of the documents
- Be able to work in partnership with Service Managers to develop and implement efficient and effective strategies and policies to achieve continuous improvement in the council’s Housing Services. You will be preparing reports, briefings and strategic papers for senior officers, managers, members, Cabinet and Scrutiny to support effective decision making.
Tower Hamlets vision for our borough is that: people are aspirational, independent and have equal access to opportunities; we are a borough that our residents are proud of and love to live in; and we are a dynamic, outcomes-based council using digital innovation and partnership working to respond to the changing needs of our borough. We want people who aspire to our TOWER values: Together; Open; Willing; Excellent; Respect.
Tower Hamlets has a zero-tolerance
approach to, and works to eradicate, all forms of discrimination on the basis
of race, sex, disability, age, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender
reassignment, marital status, status as a civil partner, gender, gender
identity, gender expression, pregnancy and maternity and looks to employ a
diverse workforce representative of those groups. We recognise that people can
also be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will
work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class.
We welcome applicants interested in
flexible working arrangements and also applicants who live in the borough.
If you have further queries, please contact Una Bedford - una.bedford@towerhamlets.gov.uk
Tower Hamlets vision for our borough is that: people are aspirational, independent and have equal access to opportunities; we are a borough that our residents are proud of and love to live in; and we are a dynamic, outcomes-based council using digital innovation and partnership working to respond to the changing needs of our borough. We want people who aspire to our TOWER values: Together; Open; Willing; Excellent; Respect.
Tower Hamlets has a zero-tolerance approach to, and works to eradicate, all forms of discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, age, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital status, status as a civil partner, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy and maternity and looks to employ a diverse workforce representative of those groups. We recognise that people can also be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class.
We welcome applicants interested in flexible working arrangements and also applicants who live in the borough.