Executive Director of Housing & Property – HARP, Southend's Homeless Charity

HARP is a Southend-based homelessness charity and Registered Social Housing Provider, dual-regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing and the Charity Commission. We support around 1,000 people a year across South Essex.   

As HARP has grown, the demands on our property function have changed. We are splitting a previously combined Executive post into two distinct roles with a deliberate separation between outward-facing growth and inward-facing assurance, this is the assurance role. 

The Executive Director of Housing & Property holds senior accountability for everything that keeps HARP’s existing homes safe, well-maintained, and compliant with our duties as a landlord and Registered Provider. You will be conversant and confident in the Regulator of Social Housing’s Consumer Standards, building safety, and our wider landlord obligations, sitting on the Executive Team alongside the Chief Executive and four other Executive colleagues.  

Why Now 

This is an important time for HARP. Over the past year we have grown and developed new services, including our new Prevention Hub on Southend High Street, and we are strengthening how we support people earlier, more practically, and with long-term stability in mind. Splitting the property function into two Executive posts (this role, and a parallel Executive Director of Capital Development) reflects the organisations commitment to dedicated senior leadership on both growth and assurance.   

What We’re Looking For 

We’re looking for a credible, senior housing and property leader who can operate comfortably at Executive Team and Board level, and who brings: 

• Significant senior leadership experience in social housing, supported housing, or a comparable regulated property environment. 

• Chartered membership of a relevant professional body, CIH/MCIH, RICS, IWFM, or IOSH/CMIOSH – or working towards it, alongside a relevant degree. 

• Deep working knowledge of the Regulator of Social Housing’s framework, particularly the Consumer Standards, and strong grounding in the Building Safety Act, Fire Safety Act and the wider landlord health & safety regime. 

• Experience of leading multi-disciplinary property and compliance teams, including those comprised of in-house staff and external contractors, with a track record of executive-level engagement with regulators through scrutiny and improvement requirements. 

• Experience of complex budget management and capital investment planning. 

• Good working awareness of the current sector reform including;  Awaab’s Law, the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023, professional standards for housing managers, and decarbonisation requirements. 

• Must have the judgement and confidence and thoughtfulness to challenge constructively: on development proposals on grounds of lifecycle cost, compliance or operational viability, while remaining a genuine partner to the growth function. 

Candidates from local authority, housing association, or registered provider backgrounds are all likely to be well suited to this role; what matters most is regulatory fluency and the ability to hold a small, high-stakes stock portfolio to a consistently high standard. 

Location 

Based in Southend-on-Sea, with easy access from London and the Kent/Essex commuter belt via c2c rail and the A13/A127 corridor. 

Applicants for this position must be available for interview on the 21st October 2026.

Please be aware that HARP Southend has partnered with a third-party recruitment provider, MMP Consultancy, to support the application, interview and onboarding process. As part of this process, applicants may be contacted directly by MMP Consultancy regarding their application.