Community Development Lead

Contract type: Permanent, Full-Time

Hours of Work: 35 hours per week

Persona: Agile / Hybrid working - office-based 20-40% (3-4 days working from home)

Location: West Ham Lane, Stratford, London

Salary: £40,649 per annum

Closing date for completed applications: 2nd May 2025 at 11:59 pm

Early applications are encouraged as we reserve the right to close the advertisement and interview earlier than stated.

Shape Communities and Drive Impact with L&Q Foundation. At the heart of L&Q Foundation’s mission lies a commitment to creating thriving, vibrant communities. We’re dedicated to delivering impactful initiatives that foster social value and empower our residents to lead healthy, independent lives. L&Q Foundation oversees programmes to support tenants and their families, offering employment and tenancy support services and developing aspirational and educational opportunities.

As a Community Development Lead, you’ll oversee projects predominantly in Southwark and South London, collaborating with stakeholders to create lasting social value. You’ll manage local grants, guide supply chain social value activities, and play a pivotal role in engaging with communities to deliver outcomes they can be proud of.

Your Impact In The Role:

• Project Management and Social Value Delivery: Design, implement, and manage community projects with a focus on operational excellence and social value. Collaborate with internal teams and external stakeholders to deliver area-based interventions that align with L&Q Foundation’s strategic priorities.
• Community Engagement and Partnership Building: Build strong relationships with residents, community groups, and voluntary organisations, ensuring their voices shape our initiatives. Support local VCSE (Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise) organisations to enhance their capacity and maximise their positive impact.
• Stakeholder Collaboration and Supply Chain Engagement: Work with internal teams, local authorities, and supply chain partners to deliver community initiatives, ensuring compliance with Section 106 planning obligations. Act as a representative of L&Q Foundation on forums and working groups, driving collaborative success.
• Grant Management and Financial Oversight: Manage local grants and oversee project budgets, ensuring compliance with funding conditions. Collaborate with finance teams to provide accurate financial reporting, ensuring value for money in all community development activities.
• Impact Measurement and Continuous Improvement: Work closely with the Impact and Reporting team to monitor and evaluate project outcomes. Use these insights to identify areas for improvement and shape future initiatives that deliver measurable benefits.

What You’ll Bring:

• Proven Expertise in Community Development: Experience managing impactful projects, fostering social value, and engaging with diverse communities.
• Stakeholder Management Skills: Ability to build strong partnerships with residents, local authorities, and third-sector organisations.
• Financial Acumen: Proficiency in grant management and budget oversight, ensuring compliance and value for money.
• Impact Measurement and Reporting: Experience monitoring and evaluating projects, with the ability to translate data into actionable insights.
• Excellent Communication and Organisational Skills: Ability to manage competing priorities and deliver outcomes effectively.

Occasionally, you may also support activities in other priority boroughs and work flexible hours, including evenings and weekends, to meet community needs.

Why Work for L&Q? L&Q is not just a workplace; it’s a community. Recognized as one of the UK’s Best Workplaces for Women and certified as a Great Place to Work, we offer an environment where everyone can thrive.

The successful candidate will have access to our full suite of benefits, which includes:

• Generous Annual Leave: Starting at 28 days and increasing to 31 days after 3 years of continuous service.
• Excellent Pension Scheme: Double contribution up to 6%.
• Health Cash Plan: Claim money towards different types of medical services, and access other health and wellbeing offers.
• Life Assurance: Generous non-contributory coverage.
• Employee Assistance Programme: Support when you need it.
• Recognition Bonus Scheme: Spot awards for outstanding contributions.
• Family-Friendly Policies: Designed to help you balance work and family life.
• Diverse Networking Groups: Join groups like Ability, Kaleidoscope, Inspire & Spectrum.
• Volunteer Time: Up to 21 hours per year to volunteer with the charity of your choice.
• Learning & Development: Commitment to your professional growth.

Ready to transform communities and create lasting social value? Apply today to make a meaningful impact with L&Q Foundation!

For this post, the successful candidate will need to apply for a Basic Disclosure Barring Service certificate (DBS) to enable them to work within the team. Further information about the Disclosure scheme can be found at DBS Information.

As a charitable organisation, our role goes beyond providing homes and housing services. We are a long-term partner in the neighbourhoods where we work. We hope to build aspiration, opportunity and confidence in our communities through our £250 million L&Q Foundation and our skills academy.

Our vision is that everyone has a quality home they can afford, and we combine our social purpose with commercial drive to create homes and neighbourhoods everyone can be proud of.

Our Commitments: At L&Q, people are at the heart of our business and our success depends on employing the best people and getting the best from them. This is why we are committed to developing our people. It’s only by investing in a well-trained and motivated workforce that we can continue to prosper and sustain business success.

We are committed to supporting your work-life balance and recognise the changing demands and circumstances in life. Please let us know during the recruitment process if you’re interested in part-time working or job sharing. In addition, should your circumstances change once you have joined L&Q, you can also request flexible working arrangements, e.g. a change to working hours - if it’s feasible then we’ll make it happen.

We are recognised externally for our commitment to inclusion. We are a Stonewall Diversity Champion, a Disability Confident (Committed) employer and have signed the Time to Change Employer Pledge to demonstrate our commitment to end mental health discrimination in the workplace.

We expect all of our employees to support our environmental policy and social responsibility work. We are an employer committed to environmental and social responsibility.