Neighbourhood Team Leader in West Bromwich

Contract Type: Permanent

Salary: £37, £41,512.57 is achieved after 12 months successful performance in the role)

Working Hours: 35 hours per week, full time

Working Pattern: Monday to Friday. 2 days specific starts are 8:45am to 5:30pm

Location: Sandwell PFI, West Bromwich

If you share our values and are excited about making a significant impact at Riverside, please ensure you attach a current CV and covering letter. At Riverside we recruit to potential not just on skills and experience, so we encourage you to apply even if you don't meet all the essential criteria on the job description.

Please note that whilst we will accept applications on the basis of any form of valid legal permission to work in the UK, we will be surrendering the Riverside Sponsorship licence, so for the avoidance of doubt, we are unable to apply for any further sponsorships whether on behalf of existing colleagues or candidates.

The difference you will make as a Neighbourhood Team Leader:

• To supervise the delivery of a high-quality, compliant, customer-focused housing management service across a defined patch of general needs homes and a small portfolio of leaseholder properties.

About you:

• Proven experience delivering front-line housing management services in a social/ affordable housing environment.
• Experience of supervising or coaching staff, managing workloads, improving team performance and service quality.
• Working knowledge of key housing management areas: tenancy management, estate management, ASB, income/ arrears escalation, and customer service.

Why Riverside?

At Riverside, we're a housing association with a difference – enhancing the everyday for all our customers. For 90 years, we've been revitalising neighbourhoods and supporting communities by providing the homes they need to live full, fulfilling and rewarding lives. We have a portfolio of over 75,000 affordable residential and retirement homes across the UK. Our work ranges from homelessness services to social care, employment support to retirement living, and we need the best people on board to help us.

Working with us, you'll enjoy:

• Competitive pay & generous pension
• 28 days holidays plus bank holidays
• Flexible working options available
• Investment in your learning, personal development and technology
• A wide range of benefits

Diversity and Inclusion at Riverside:

We are inclusive. At Riverside, we value diversity in all its forms. We foster a workplace where all individuals are respected, empowered, and heard. Our commitment to inclusivity drives our success and enriches the lives of our customers and colleagues. Riverside is a Disability Confident Employer and operates a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for any applicant who declares they have a disability. If the applicant meets the minimum requirements for the role (as set out in the role profile and/or person specification) they will be guaranteed an interview.

Applications may close before the deadline, so please apply early to be considered.

Role Profile:

• Service leadership and supervision: Lead, supervise and coach the neighbourhood team to deliver consistent, resident-focused services, including setting priorities, allocating works, conducting 1:1s, performance conversations, and supporting wellbeing.
• Provide visible day-to-day leadership, role modelling Riverside values and expected behaviours, and ensuring appropriate cover for critical service tasks (including cash office duties where required).
• Maintain oversight of team quality, productivity and compliance, addressing underperformance promptly and supporting development through training and coaching.
• Tenancy management (general needs): Oversee end-to-end tenancy management activity including sign-ups, tenancy sustainment, changes in circumstances, succession, assignments, mutual exchanges, and enforcement activity in line with policy and law.
• Ensure appropriate support is in place for vulnerable residents, including timely referrals, reasonable adjustments and effective multi-agency working.
• Maintain high standards of case records and decision rationale to ensure auditability and defendability.
• Income collection and arrears (operational oversight): Oversee neighbourhood income performance across the patch: early intervention, repayment plans, welfare benefit signposting, and escalation routes (including legal action) in line with policy and relevant pre-action expectation.
• Ensure colleagues take a consistent evidence-led approach to affordability, vulnerability and sustainability, balancing income protection with resident support.
• Monitor rent account trends and ensure accurate, timely actions and management information for reporting.
• Estate management and neighbourhood standards: Oversee local estate/ patch standards including inspections, environmental issues, communal concerns, and place-shaping activity with residents and partners.
• Provide operational oversight of ASB case management (triage, risk assessment, action plans, partnership engagement, evidence standards and enforcement escalation as needed).
• Promote a strong community presence and effective local relationships with statutory and voluntary agencies.
• Repairs interface, property condition, and resident safety (operational): Ensure effective front-line oversight of repair reporting, follow-up escalation, including complaints/ compensation triggers and learning loops.
• Support safe, timely responses to hazards, with clear escalation routes for urgent/safety matters and accurate resident updates.
• Ensure local operational compliance with current consumer regulation expectation on Safety & Quality and resident accountability and influence.
• Support implementation of Awaab's Law requirements by ensuring reports of significant damp/mould and emergency hazards are actioned, tracked and escalated within required timescales, and that residents are kept appropriately informed.
• Work with internal colleagues/ contractors to ensure fire and safety information and actions are managed and communicated appropriately at a local level (in line with organisational arrangements under fire and safety legislation).
• Complaints handling, service recovery and learning: Oversee stage 1 complaint responses, ensuring quality, timeliness, empathy, remedy/learning focus, and clear records.
• Ensure the team follows the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code requirements and contributes to a positive "learning from complaints" culture.
• Identify themes, drive service improvements, and share learning with relevant internal stakeholders/ contract partners.
• Leasehold – Operational coordination: Provide front-line oversight of leaseholder/ customer enquiries, ensuring timely responses, accurate signposting and appropriate referrals to specialist colleagues where required.
• Support operational delivery of estate/ communal standards and resident communications affecting leaseholders, ensuring consistency and good record keeping.
• Assist with local coordination activity linked to service charges/ major works communications as directed, ensuring information is accurate and issued in line with internal governance.
• Cash Office: Ensure safe and compliant delivery of cash/ transactional duties (e.g., receipting, balancing, secure storage, banking arrangements, audit trail, segregation of duties) in line with Sandwell Council financial controls.
• Monitor adherence, address variances promptly and ensure the team is trained and scheduled to maintain service continuity.
• Act as designated cash supervisor, attending the office from 08:45am at least twice per week, to enable the cash facility for cashiering activities and remaining on site until 5:30pm to complete cash reconciliation and securely transfer monies to the approved security provider. Maintain oversight of financial controls, ensuring compliance with organisational procedures and audit requirements.
• For the remaining working days, operate with flexibility regarding work location; however, where staffing levels are reduced or service resilience is at risk, the postholder is expected to prioritise on-site presence and provide operational cover to maintain continuity of service.
• Governance, data quality and compliance: Maintain high standards of data accuracy across housing management systems, ensuring actions are recorded contemporaneously and files are audit ready.
• PFI Contractual Compliance: Ensure all neighbourhood housing activities are delivered in accordance with the PFI contract and associated Output Specification, maintaining robust oversight of performance standards, documentation, and service delivery requirements. Promptly identify and escalate any areas of non-compliance, implementing corrective actions to mitigate risk, recognising that failure to meet contractual obligations may result in financial deductions or penalties to the contract.
• Ensure compliance with Riverside policies on information governance, confidentiality, equality/ diversity, safeguarding and health and safety.
• Contribute to internal audits/ assurance activity, implementing agreed actions and tracking progress.
• Partnership working and communication: Represent the service in local operational meetings with partners/ contractors and internal teams, escalating risks and issues appropriately to the PFI Operations Manager.
• Support resident engagement locally, encouraging feedback, involvement and transparent communication aligned to consumer standards expectation.
• Other duties: Undertake any other reasonable duties commensurate with the role to support service delivery and organisational priorities.

Person specification:

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Essential:
• Proven experience delivering front-line housing management services in a social/ affordable housing environment.
• Experience of supervising or coaching staff, managing workloads, improving team performance and service quality.
• Working knowledge of key housing management areas: tenancy management, estate management, ASB, income/ arrears escalation, and customer service.
• Demonstrable understanding of operating in a regulated environment, including applying policy, maintaining clear records, and responding to complaints effectively.
• Understanding of current expectations relating to:
• RSH consumer standards (effective from 1st of April 2024)
• Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code statutory compliance (from April 2024)
• Awaab's Law timescale requirements (from 27 October 2025)
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, able to produce clear case notes, letters/ responses and management updates.
• Confident using housing management/ CRM systems and Microsoft Office tools to manage performance information and reporting.
• Ability to manage risk, remain calm under pressure and make consistent, defensible decisions.

• Desirable:
• Professional housing qualification (or working towards) e.g. CIH level or equivalent.
• Experience working with leaseholders/ service charge related enquiries (front-line interface)
• Experience working within a contract-led environment (E.g. PFI/ Out sourced repairs) and managing contractor interfaces.
• Demonstrable experience of leading service improvements based on complaints, audits or performance insight.