Housing Complaint and Resolution Manager in Ashford

As part of our commitment to delivering excellent, fair and transparent services for our residents, we are creating a new Housing Complaints & Resolutions Team and are seeking an exceptional leader to take on the pivotal role of Manager for this new team. This team’s purpose is to drive excellence in how we respond to, learn from, and ultimately reduce complaints across our housing services. This is a strategic, high-impact position at the heart of our commitment to delivering outstanding customer experience.

You will lead a high-performing team of Complaints & Resolution Officers, set the direction for our complaints function, and ensure we not only meet but exceed the expectations set by the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code, the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman, and sector best practice. If you are passionate about service improvement, confident in navigating complex and high-risk cases, and motivated by the opportunity to influence change across an entire department, this role offers a unique platform to make a meaningful difference for our residents.

You will be responsible for leading the delivery and implementation of the department’s complaints policy, ensuring full compliance with regulatory requirements and organisational values, along with:

• Acting as the senior authority for complex, high-risk, Stage 2, and Ombudsman-referred complaints.
• Overseeing the allocation, workflow, and quality of complaints across the team, ensuring high standards and effective capacity management.
• Working closely with the Housing Performance & Improvement Manager to champion a culture of continuous improvement, using data, root cause analysis, and learning to drive transformational change.
• Leading cross-departmental initiatives to address recurring issues, enhance service delivery, and embed best practice in complaints handling.
• Developing and implementing policies, procedures, and training programmes that raise standards across the Housing service.
• Producing high-quality performance reports for senior leaders, Cabinet, and key stakeholders, ensuring accurate data management and insight-driven recommendations.
• Identifying trends and emerging issues in complaint data and translating insights into actionable service improvement plans.

It is essential that you are already a proven experienced leader with a deep understanding of complaints management and a passion for driving service excellence. You will bring strategic insight, emotional intelligence, and the confidence to influence at all levels. You will have significant experience in complaints management, ideally within social housing, along with:

• Strong analytical skills, with experience identifying trends and driving service improvements.
• Ability to present complex information clearly and to influence and negotiate with senior stakeholders and customers.
• High level of professionalism, discretion, and integrity when handling sensitive information.

If you’re ready to lead a function that drives meaningful change, strengthens resident trust, and shapes the future of our housing services, we would be delighted to receive your application. Join us and help deliver a housing service that listens, learns, and continually improves for our residents.

Hybrid Working: We are an organisation that puts people first and understands how important employee wellbeing is. We want to help you to balance your working life and home life and offer flexible ways of working to help structure your life in a positive and productive way; both at home and in the office. This maximises personal development and collaborative working.

Competitive remuneration package: We offer an excellent salary linked pension scheme, generous annual leave with flexi time, free life insurance, supportive relocation package and opportunities for training and development.

Ashford Borough Council recognises the need to ensure the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults when they come into contact with the services we provide.