Housing Defects & Improvements Lead in London

Defects and Improvements Officer WC623750

Salary range: £42,912- £57,495 per annum. Salary negotiable depending upon experience.

Work location: Westminster City Hall, 64 Victoria Street, Westminster, SW1E 6QP.

Hours per week: 36. Contract type: Permanent. Closing date: 10 May 2026.

About Us

Housing in Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories. Where dedicated and compassionate professionals bring everything to their work. Our goal is for homes to be safe, high quality and sustainable. We manage construction programmes, engage residents, oversee contractors, uphold governance, value for money, and regulatory compliance.

The Role

As Defects and Improvements Officer, you will be joining the Major Works team, which delivers complex capital projects across Westminster’s housing stock. You’ll be helping us to achieve this by managing and resolving defects and aftercare. Strong organisational and problem-solving skills will shine through in this role. As the primary point of contact for residents, you’ll ensure that all issues are addressed quickly and effectively, in a way that leaves residents satisfied.

You will liaise with project teams and contractors to keep residents informed on how works are progressing. Plus, you’ll join these teams for snagging and quality inspections to ensure efficient defects management and allocation process. You’ll maintain accurate records and reporting, including on contractor and consultant performance, escalating delays or quality issues to the manager.

To do this role, you’ll need to be flexible and comfortable with travel around the borough to visit sites and attend resident meetings – this may take place outside working hours. You’ll be proactive about continuously refining defect management and aftercare processes.

To be equal to the role, you’ll bring experience in defects, snagging, and aftercare processes within housing or construction projects. You’ve developed excellent customer care skills, including in managing expectations and resolving complex queries. You’ll have liaised with contractors, consultants and internal delivery teams on working towards a resolution, to a set deadline.

It’s key that you bring an understanding of social housing standards, defect liability periods and compliance requirements. At a basic level, you can diagnose common building defects, construction processes and remedial actions. You’ll have experience in managing and interpreting large volumes of data – interrogating it, identifying trends, and making recommendations.

You’re proficient in Microsoft Office (especially Excel and Word) and able to learn new systems fast. A strong communicator with great interpersonal skills, you can explain technical issues clearly to residents and others. You can build trusting, positive relationships. Under pressure, you’ll maintain these traits. You’re self-motivated, able to work independently, and clear on when to elevate issues.

Westminster City Council is committed to supporting Care Leavers into the workplace. Care Leavers seeking their first job and who wish to be considered under our scheme, will automatically be invited to interview should they meet the essential criteria for the role.

What We Offer

Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to more than 200,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people work in Westminster. Westminster City Council’s strategy is to work towards a Fairer Westminster. A Fairer Westminster is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city’s future.

At Westminster City Council, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that, at all levels, represents the communities we serve. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and is empowered to be their best, that is the Westminster Way.

As a forward-thinking Council we appreciate that people work in different ways, therefore our staff benefit from working a range of flexible working patterns as well as Agile working. The Council is a Disability Confident Employer. If you have declared a disability in your application, we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job.