Contents Letter to Applicants Job Advertisement Job Description and Person Specification Principal Terms and Conditions About Watmos Community Homes
Letter to Applicants September 2016 Dear Applicant, Re: Thank you for responding to our recent advertisement for the post of. Please find enclosed: An application form (including Criminal Records Disclosure Form and Equal Opportunities Monitoring form). The job description. The person specification. Principal terms and conditions of employment. Further information about Watmos can be found on our web site www.watmos.org.uk Before completing your application, please read the job description and the person specification carefully. The selection panel will only short list applicants who have demonstrated on their application form that they meet the criteria on the person specification. Consider how all your education, training, skills and experience relate to your application. You may refer to not only your paid work but also any voluntary work and your personal activities. Completed application forms should be returned by e-mail to recruitment@watmos.org.uk or sent by post, marked Confidential to Raj Kaur, Human Resources Assistant, Watmos Community Homes, 116-120 Lichfield Street, Walsall, WS1 1SZ. The closing date for receipt of applications is 22 nd September 2016. Shortlisting will take place week commencing 26 th September 2016 or week commencing 3 rd October 2016. Interviews will be held week commencing 3 rd October 2016 or week commencing 10 th October 2016. We regret that we will not be able to contact applicants who have not been shortlisted. Therefore, please assume that you have not been successful if you do not hear from us before the interview date. Should you have any questions regarding the application process please do not hesitate to contact me. Yours sincerely, M. Anderson Michael Anderson Human Resources
Advertisement Leading the way in resident managed housing Watmos' unique approach has put it at the forefront of transforming communities and exceeding expectations. We are seeking an outstanding and dedicated individual who shares our passion for improving people's lives. 50,000-55,000 plus benefits. Location: Kennington, London or Walsall, West Mids. This role involves contributing to the formulation of the development strategy, assisting in the delivery of the resultant action plans, leading on new build opportunities and managing the delivery of the development programme. The successful candidate will possess experience of leading and managing the new build and development function in a complex organisation, exceptional communication skills, high quality report writing skills and the confidence and credibility to liaise and negotiate effectively with a wide range of stakeholders. To download/obtain recruitment information and an application form: Visit: http://www.watmos.org.uk/current-vacancies e-mail: recruitment@watmos.org.uk Write to: Raj Kaur, Human Resources Assistant, Watmos Community Homes, 116-120 Lichfield Street, Walsall, West Midlands, WS1 1SZ Closing Date: 22 nd September 2016
Job Description Department: Responsible to: Responsible For: Significant Relationships: Location: Special Conditions: Context: Job Purpose Executive Department Executive Director of Resources None Watmos Staff. TMO Committee Members Residents and leaseholders Homes and Communities Agency Greater London Authority Local Authorities Suppliers External organisations such as agents, contractors, vendors, valuation offices Kennington, London or Walsall, West Midlands Occasional weekend and evening work will be required. Watmos Community Homes is a unique charitable housing association, which provides accommodation for people in housing need in the Walsall and London areas. The organisation is based around eleven Tenant Management Organisations (TMOs) who successfully manage their own estates, through a management agreement. Our aim is to create strong, stable communities within safe and pleasant neighbourhoods through resident control and locally accountable tenant management. Lead the formulation of the development strategy and assist in the delivery of the resultant action plans. Lead on new build opportunities, manage the delivery of the development programme and supervise project teams. Form and maintain key relationships with internal and external stakeholders ensuring that high quality reporting and communications are provided when required.
Job Description Key Responsibilities 1. Formulate a development strategy. 2. Work with Matrix Partnership (a co-operative of five housing associations providing affordable housing services) to identify and secure new build opportunities, assess financial viability in line with the s financial and development plans and ensure effective delivery of projects. 3. Work with Matrix Partnership to prepare and appraise costed scheme opportunities for formal approval in accordance with the s scheme approval process. 4. Prepare bids to secure funding for new and existing schemes via the HCA/GLA and other sources and ensure that financing conditions and programme milestones are met. 5. Lead on pre-contract negotiations with particular regard to design and contractual arrangements for new schemes. 6. Oversee project management of development schemes from inception to completion/handover. 7. Ensure that good communications are maintained with key stakeholders and that a positive image of Watmos Community Homes is presented at all times 8. Establish a network of effective working relationships with Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), Greater London Authority, Local Authorities, agents, contractors, vendors, solicitors, valuation offices, local communities and other agencies as required. 9. Liaise with Watmos Community Homes Tenant Management Organisations to support resident participation and ensure meaningful engagement in the development process. Attend partnership meetings. 10. Manage, monitor and minimise risks in relation to all aspects of development projects. 11. Identify suitable sites for development projects. 12. Prepare reports for Board, Area Boards and Executive Team. 13. Maintain knowledge of local housing markets including demand, rental and sales values as well as emerging areas for new build opportunities. 14. Understand key drivers and variables in assessing feasibility of development opportunities. 15. Ensure that the organisation s new build projects are effectively and efficiently managed and produce regular reports. 16. Contribute to Watmos Community Homes active asset management strategy, regeneration opportunities and execute the sale of assets no longer judged as viable. Note: These duties may be performed on behalf of any member of the Watmos. No job description can cover every issue which may arise within the post at various times and therefore the jobholder is expected to carry out other reasonable duties and to provide cover for other staff as requested from time to time.
Person Specification Education, Qualifications and Training 1. Degree standard of education in relevant subject or equivalent professional qualification or Qualified by experience. Professional Knowledge and Experience 1. Commitment to and enthusiasm for delivering new build development strategies. 2. In-depth knowledge of HCA/GLA requirements relating to capital bids and programme delivery. 3. Significant experience of leading and managing the new build and development function in a complex organisation. 4. Track record of delivering and ensuring delivery of Market Sale Schemes, S106 and Private Rent Schemes. 5. Excellent practical working knowledge of the residential property development process. 6. Skilled in working with strategic partnerships (i.e. with bodies similar to the Matrix Partnership). ASSESSED ON APPLICATION FORM AT INTERVIEW PROCESS 7. Skilled in project and budget management. 8. Ability to identify new business opportunities. 9. High level strategic awareness of residential new build development and finance markets that affect housing associations. 10. Ability to carry out, co-ordinate and interpret new build development appraisals and to understand the use of financial models. 11. Ability to analyse and manage new build development risk and show adaptability in meeting changing market conditions. 12. Ability to work with communities to enhance their strength and viability throughout the new build development programme.
Terms Person & Specification Conditions Governance Officer Details of full terms and conditions of employment will be provided ASSESSED in a formal offer to the successful applicant. The following outlines the main aspects of the employment package: - ON AT APPLICATION INTERVIEW Salary: The annual salary is 37,126. FORM PROCESS Expenses: 13. Knowledge The post and holder understanding will receive of the appropriate mileage allowance where a car is used for business purposes. All reasonable business expenditure (including the planning system. train journeys, hotel accommodation and subsistence) will be reimbursed on production of 14. Understanding of the regulatory receipts. framework for registered providers. Pension 15. Understanding of and empathy for Watmos social operates housing. the Pensions Trust FRP Defined Contribution Scheme. 16. Your Appreciation contribution of rate the is commercial a minimum of 4% of your salary, but you can contribute more context should of you delivering so wish. complex Watmos also contributes the equivalent of 4% of your mixed-use and multi-tenure salary towards your pension. You projects. can opt out of the pension scheme should you so wish. Hours Skills of Work: and The Abilities post is offered on the basis of a 37 hour week, Monday to Friday. Some 1. evening Ability to and support weekend and work facilitate is required. resident management, involvement Flexible and Working empowerment. Scheme: Watmos operates a flexible working scheme, offering employees 2. Excellent the opportunity written communication to build credit to take up to one day off every 4 weeks depending on work commitments and cover. and grammatical skills, including Annual the Leave: ability Annual to write leave letters entitlement and is 25 days rising to 30 over a five year period pro-rata reports as appropriate to a very for high part-time standard. or fixed-term posts. 3. IT literacy skills and the ability to Bank Holidays and Additional Days: Watmos staff are entitled to 12 additional days use Microsoft Word, Excel, leave that fall under the categories of Bank Holidays and additional concessionary days PowerPoint, Outlook, CAD packages and other appropriate Professional software Subscriptions: packages to a Watmos high will reimburse the cost of one annual subscription standard. to a relevant professional institution. Salary 4. Excellent Sacrifice negotiation, Schemes: Watmos influencing offers a range of salary sacrifice schemes including and car persuasion lease, childcare skills. vouchers and cycle to work which are available to all staff. 5. Strong analytical and commercial skills, ability to solve problems and Retail see Discounts: tasks through Watmos to offers completion. a retail discount scheme offering high street, travel and 6. leisure Strong discounts. interpersonal skills at Travel all to levels. Work Loan: Fluent Watmos and clear offers oral a travel to work loan scheme to assist with the purchase communication of travel season with tickets. the ability to communicate to variety of staff, Flu Vaccination: Watmos offers a free flu vaccination. customers and service users. Car 7. Parking: Confidence Free car and parking credibility is available to liaise adjacent to the Watmos offices. with a range of stakeholders. Probationary 8. Strong Period: numeracy The skills post will be subject to a six months probationary period. Notice 9. Ability Period: to plan You may own terminate workload your and employment with Watmos by giving one month s prioritise written notice. to meet The targets minimum and period of notice to which you are entitled from Watmos deadlines. during the probationary period is two weeks. The period of notice to which you 10. are Ability entitled to identify following new successful approaches completion of the probationary period is a minimum and of opportunities one month. that will Health strengthen Screening: Watmos All employees and our joining the organisation are asked to complete a Health communities. Declaration form. 11. Commitment to fairness, equality and diversity.
Person Specification Flexibility and Commitment 1. Commitment to attending evening and weekend meetings and events as required. 2. Willingness to contribute to and be actively involved in Watmos tenant involvement and community empowerment activities and events. 3. Willingness to travel around the UK as required and to have overnight stays away from home. ASSESSED ON APPLICATION FORM AT INTERVIEW PROCESS
Terms & Conditions Details of full terms and conditions of employment will be provided in a formal offer to the successful applicant. The following outlines the main aspects of the employment package: - Salary: The annual salary is 50,000-55,000. Expenses: The post holder will receive the appropriate mileage allowance where a car is used for business purposes. All reasonable business expenditure (including train journeys, hotel accommodation and subsistence) will be reimbursed on production of receipts. Pension Watmos operates the Pensions Trust FRP Defined Contribution Scheme. Your contribution rate is a minimum of 4% of your salary, but you can contribute more should you so wish. Watmos also contributes the equivalent of 4% of your salary towards your pension. You can opt out of the pension scheme should you so wish. Hours of Work: The post is offered on the basis of a 37 hour week, Monday to Friday. Some evening and weekend work is required. Flexible Working Scheme: Watmos operates a flexible working scheme, offering employees the opportunity to build credit to take up to one day off every 4 weeks depending on work commitments and cover. Annual Leave: Annual leave entitlement is 25 days rising to 30 over a five year period pro-rata as appropriate for part-time or fixed-term posts. Bank Holidays and Additional Days: Watmos staff are entitled to 12 additional days leave that fall under the categories of Bank Holidays and additional concessionary days Professional Subscriptions: Watmos will reimburse the cost of one annual subscription to a relevant professional institution. Salary Sacrifice Schemes: Watmos offers a range of salary sacrifice schemes including car lease, childcare vouchers and cycle to work which are available to all staff. Retail Discounts: Watmos offers a retail discount scheme offering high street, travel and leisure discounts. Travel to Work Loan: Watmos offers a travel to work loan scheme to assist with the purchase of travel season tickets. Flu Vaccination: Watmos offers a free flu vaccination. Probationary Period: The post will be subject to a six months probationary period. Notice Period: You may terminate your employment with Watmos by giving two months written notice. The minimum period of notice to which you are entitled from Watmos during the probationary period is two weeks. The period of notice to which you are entitled following successful completion of the probationary period is a minimum of two months. Health Screening: All employees joining the organisation are asked to complete a Health Declaration form.
About WATMOS Community Homes n INTRODUCTION WATMOS Community Homes is a unique social housing landlord owning just over 2700 homes for rent in the Walsall area of the West Midlands and Lambeth in London. There are also 300 leaseholder properties. As a charitable housing provider, our main role is to provide accommodation for people in need of housing. We are founded on the principles of inclusion and resident empowerment in a culture which values people s individual and collective contribution to their community. Watmos Community Homes (WCH) is based around eleven Tenant Management Organisations (TMOs) who have successfully managed their own estates for many years and who provide local housing services on behalf of the WCH. The TMOs are run by elected resident committees who employ their own staff providing housing services and looking after their estates. OUR MISSION Our mission is: Developing strong, sustainable communities, within safe and pleasant neighbourhoods through resident control and locally accountable tenant management. KEY PRINCIPLES WATMOS was set up to build on the success of tenant management in Walsall and as a social housing landlord we are proud to offer something a bit different. Our approach is based on four key principles: 1. Tenants and residents should be in the driving seat, empowered, encouraged and supported to manage their own estates. 2. Housing services should be organised locally with accessible staff based in offices within walking distance on every estate. Service standards should be agreed within each locality that reflect the priorities set by the tenants. 3. Our estates should be attractive, desirable and offer a high level of security. 4. We shouldn t just be managing housing; we should be building a real sense of community where people look after one another. These principles are important to us and through them we aim to provide tenants and residents with good housing conditions that meet their needs and exceed their expectations within communities that encourage people to reach their potential and improve the quality of life for themselves and others. We aim to be one of the best housing associations in the country and demonstrate that tenant management and local community control really works.
About WATMOS Community Homes n OUR CORPORATE DIRECTION Our corporate direction is decided through tenant consultation. Tenants and residents are encouraged to participate in setting the aims, objectives and priorities of our organisation, driving WATMOS in the direction that our tenants are passionate about. Our tenant satisfaction is high and our people are able to witness the shaping of the organisation through their priorities. OUR VISION AND VALUES Democratic local resident control and service delivery through tenant management organisations We recognise that, first and foremost, the success of a landlord is based on getting the basics right. We believe that our tenants and residents are best placed to work with us to set, scrutinise and deliver the services we provide and to ensure we maintain an effective and efficient approach to managing our business. Providing a secure and pleasant residential environment We know that many tenants and residents have chosen to live on a TMOmanaged area because of the attractive estate environment and feeling of security that has been created. We intend to protect and extend this feature of our neighbourhoods by maintaining our homes in good condition, effective tenancy management, control of nuisance and investment in environmental improvements. Working with others to provide strong sustainable community controlled housing We aim to promote the values of community-controlled housing and demonstrate the benefits of tenant and resident management. We are convinced that services under the democratic control of their users are more likely to be in tune with their genuine needs and requirements. We will work with like-minded organisations locally, regionally and nationally to promote and raise the profile of community-controlled housing and strengthen the sector within the wider housing world. Offering social and personal development opportunities Being involved in the WCH provides tenants and residents with personal development opportunities. We value the contribution made by our people and we will ensure we provide them with the training and support to enable them to effectively participate. Offering value for money We are committed to ensure that the ethos of financial efficiency is a primary objective and that we scrutinise the value of each and every service we offer. We will ensure Watmos Community Homes remains financially strong without affecting the high standard of local housing services we strive to offer.
About WATMOS Community Homes n OUR CORPORATE PRIORITIES 2015 2020 Investing in Homes and Communities We understand that our tenants and residents value being part of a community. Their neighbourhood matters to them and we want to work with them in improving their environment enabling them to feel proud of where they live. We will achieve this by:- Providing high quality homes. Providing excellent services shaped to meet their local area priorities. Achieving real tenant satisfaction in all areas of our work. Investing in environmental improvements. Supporting social interaction/activities. Supporting social enterprise and other employment initiatives. Offering personal support which improves health and wellbeing for residents. Developing anti-poverty strategies. Offering accredited training for residents. Empowerment, Involvement and Tenant Scrutiny We know the value and benefits of involving our tenants and residents. Effective tenant and resident empowerment and involvement throughout the organisation, from governance level through to service delivery, ensures we continue to focus on meeting the needs and expectations of our customers. We can already demonstrate the positive impact that community-controlled housing has had on our estates and the improvements made to service delivery. We aim to continue to provide and build on our involvement opportunities to further enhance the benefits to our communities and the organisation. We aim to achieve this by:- Enhancing our current empowerment and engagement arrangements. Building on the strong and effective support mechanisms in place for our TMOs. Enhancing our tenant scrutiny role. Actively publishing the results of tenant involvement. Continuing to support personal development. Reinvesting in our communities to make them fit for purpose for the next generation.
About WATMOS Community Homes n Organisational Prosperity We are a unique organisation that offers its tenants more than just housing. We know the difference our approach has made to improving quality of life. We want to ensure that the organisation prospers to enable more people to benefit now and in the future. We aim to achieve this by:- Growing our organisation strategically by stock transfer, acquisition and or new build. Building excellent working relationships and partnerships. Improve our financial efficiency and strength. Improving our internal and external communication. Increasing our profile and influence within social housing and mutual housing models. Supporting and encouraging like-minded organisations. Offering greater transparency in our financial business and offering excellent Value for Money. Identifying uneconomic stock. Investing in Our People We know our organisations success is due to the dedication of our volunteers and our staff. We value the contribution made by each and every person in helping us set and meet our corporate priorities. We want to continue that success by ensuring that we can identify and provide the support needed to enable our people to continue to effectively contribute to the organisation. We aim to achieve this by:- Continuing to help people to shape their destiny and realise their potential. Reviewing our current support mechanisms. Maintaining maximum involvement in the decision making process. Celebrating and communicating our success.